@Movie1 wrote:
Thank you for the heads up on the free filing. Thank you for the additional info. Once I learned that the IRS accepts a letter from the church defining the amount given for Housing Allowance, instead of a W2 - added with a possibility for a higher level of scrutiny from the IRS for a W2 with all zero's accept the box (13?) where the housing allowance would be noted, the safest course of action for all concerned - for such a small amount- seemed to be a Housing Allowance letter. This year 2021 I will use the Home Office write off. I thought it was a hassle before, but my office- where I am right now is where I do the business of the church. The church building is primarily only for services Thank you for your time and patience. God Bless You.
So let me check a couple more things for you.
The housing allowance can either be reported in box 14 of the W-2, or in a separate memo. The memo doesn't need to be sent to the IRS unless they ask. Box 14 is basically a comment box, employers can put anything in that box and it has no official impact on your tax return. If you had a W-2 with box 14 only, that's basically the same as not having a W-2 at all. You can't e-file a return with a W-2 with nothing in box 1. Even if the church issued a blank W-2 with box 14 only, you would still have to enter the housing allowance in turbotax using the self-employment path with code 813000.
