Minister, Adjunct Professor and Recruiter for Seminary

[aprcox20]

My husband is a minister and currently gets a 1099 NEC from a Seminary he teaches a class during the spring semester and 1 during the fall semester.  I do understand that the 1099 received will be seen as self-employment.  This work I see as Education.  However, he is still a minister, and in 2023 he planted a new church.  He did not get paid in 2023 but did purchase items for the church, added a phone line, and paid for the church set up with the state, post office box, and other communication items we paid for.   

Can I list each of these as separate lines of work, and enter expenses for each to get tax credits?  

For the Minister line of work, I won't have any income to report, it will be set at $0, but I will have expenses to list.  Is this correct?

While my husband is a minister and each of these lines of work is done within a religious setting, should each be done by selecting Clergy Type, or put one under Education and Minister under Clergy Type?

All work done for each line of work is done from the home office, that is used solely for both ministry work and the seminary work.   So for each line of work I want to identify the home office.  Each line of work does utilize this office at least 15 days of the month, 100% of the time.  Is this ok?

Thanks for your help!

ac

[KrisD15 · Accepted solution]

Yes, he can have two separate Schedule C businesses. They would need to be different types of work, such as you suggest, Religious and Education, since if they were the same, there would be no reason to have two.

Yes, the Religious Schedule C can list expenses only but be aware that a home office expense won't be allowed without income. 

Even when the home office expense is allowed for both Schedule C's, you cannot claim the full amount of the home office for both businesses. So no, you would not claim 100% of the time for both businesses. 

When the home office is entered, TurboTax does ask if the Home Office is shared. Be sure to respond "Yes" so the program allocates half to each (or whatever percentage you indicate). 

[aprcox20]

Thank you, this was very helpful!   ok, so even though I can't get the home office credit without income, I can still enter the expenses it cost us to start up the church.... correct?

[aprcox20]

@KrisD15  Thank you, this was very helpful!   ok, so even though I can't get the home office credit without income, I can still enter the expenses it cost us to start up the church.... correct?

My husband has always been a minister  (1991) and a Sr. Pastor for various former churches where he received W2s at that time.  However, now that we have planted a new church 08/2023, the line of business I am entering asks when he started, do I put 082023 because it is for a new church, even though I know he's been a minister for much longer?

[KrisD15]

Correct, this new phase started in 2023, so you can claim the expenses (and someday income) from this new endeavor. 

Good luck. 

[aprcox20]

@KrisD15  sorry one last thing on this subject.  

My husband is the primary planter and Pastor for our new church, we both paid for some of the expenses.  Can I list my expenses under his line item, I do have the receipts.  Or do I need to list the items I paid for somewhere else?

[DianeW777]

Yes, you can enter all receipts paid for the ministry under your husband's Schedule C. Keep all the receipts with the tax return for future reference if needed,

@aprcox20 

[aprcox20]

@DianeW777 Perfect, thank you!