Clergy - Schedule C or Form 2106 Expense Adjustment
1

The income amount(s) used on the Publication 517 Worksheets 1-4 (Clergy worksheets) to calculate the percentage of tax-free income (Worksheet 1) and the net self-employment income for Schedule SE (Form 1040) (Worksheet 4), are not transferred automatically from the Form W-2. These are manual entries made in the Self-employment Tax Adjustments section as outlined below. Entering these amounts will NOT double the income claimed on the return.

  1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop) click Federal. On smaller devices, click the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner, then select Federal
  2. Click Taxes in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand the category, then click Self-employment tax adjustments
  3. The third screen (titled Self-Employment Tax - Clergy Information), prompts for the W-2 salary as a minister and/or the gross income from weddings, baptisms, writing, lecturing, etc.

The amounts entered here will appear on the worksheets and can be viewed by following these steps:

  1. From within your TaxAct Online return, click Print Center in the left column.
  2. Click Custom Print
  3. Click on the checkbox(es) to the left of the item(s) Federal Schedule SE - Adjustments - [NAME]. You may need to scroll down in the section to locate the item. 
  4. Click Print and then click the PDF link. Click the printer icon or the save icon (available when you hover your mouse over the bottom of the PDF form) to print or save the PDF copy.

Note: If you see a message indicating you have not paid your return fees, click the View/Pay link, which will direct you through the Paper Filing steps. Continue through the screens until you have processed the payment for your product fees and then repeat the steps to print.

  1. From within your TaxAct return (Desktop), click on the Forms button in the top left corner
  2. Expand the Federal folder and then expand the Worksheets folder 
  3. Scroll down and click the '+' next to Schedule SE - Adjustments - Clergy Worksheets and then double-click Federal Schedule SE - Adjustments - [taxpayer name]
  4. Worksheet 1 is the first one listed.  Scroll to the bottom of the screen to view Worksheet 4
  5. Click the pink Printer icon above the worksheet.  In the print dialog box that appears you are able to choose if you wish to send the output to a printer or a PDF document. 

Once the fillable worksheets are completed, they will then become a part of the return and will be electronically filed and/or printed with the return. The amounts from the worksheets must be manually entered elsewhere in the program as explained above.

Additional Information

Please refer to IRS Publication 517 Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy and Religious Workers for additional information.