Clergy W2 box 4 and 6

[raharp]

I am a minister but my employer withheld money for both social security tax (box 4) and medicare tax (box 6). Is there a place on Form 1040 where I can record these amounts? I have seen that if a minister pays quarterly they can put the estimated tax on Form 1040 line 26. Can I put the amount withdrawn on this line? 

[ThomasM125]

If your employer reported social security and Medicare taxes withheld on your W-2 form in boxes 4 and 6 and the associated wages in boxes 3 and 5, then it appears they did not elect to be exempt from that reporting, in which case they paid those taxes to the Social Security system along with their portion, so you would only need to enter your W-2 form in TurboTax.

I believe you may be expecting the church to have applied to be exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax collection and reporting, which is allowed. In that case, you would pay in self-employment tax when you file your personal tax return to account for that. In that case, it would not be necessary to report the FICA/Medicare tax withheld on your W-2 form in boxes 4 and 6, it would be better reported in box 2 as income tax withheld. That way it will apply to your self-employment tax paid on your form 1040.

I suggest you ask your employer if they paid the tax in to the federal government and reported it as social security/Medicare tax. If so, you enter your W-2 form in TurboTax, but the social security/Medicare tax does not appear on your Form 1040 anywhere and no additional tax is due from you for it. After you enter your W-2 form, you would indicate that you have clergy wages and on the screen that says Now Tell us about your clergy self-employment taxes, you would indicate that social security and Medicare taxes have already been withheld. Then, you wouldn't have to pay in self-employment tax.