Sponsors (22)
The bill gives eligible religious workers a clear, one‑time path to join Social Security and access retirement/survivor benefits, but doing so can trigger substantial immediate and ongoing tax costs, administrative burdens, and potential timing confusion for benefit payments.
Ministers, members of religious orders, ordained ministers, and Christian Science practitioners can revoke prior exemptions and opt into Social Security coverage, making them eligible for future Social Security retirement and survivor benefits.
Eligible individuals get a clear, one-time application process and deadline to revoke the exemption, giving them a defined window to make a long-term election about Social Security participation.
Applicants may make the revocation retroactively effective for the first taxable year (if timely paid), allowing them to establish coverage earlier for Social Security purposes.
Religious workers who revoke exemptions face higher taxes: they may incur large immediate retroactive self‑employment tax bills if they make earlier effective dates, and the revocation is irrevocable, producing permanently higher long‑term tax liabilities.
Linking revocation effective dates to benefit entitlement can create administrative complexity and confusion about timing of monthly insurance or lump‑sum death payments, risking gaps or delays in benefits if effective dates are misunderstood.
Required outreach and additional processing will impose administrative costs on the IRS and SSA, costs that are ultimately borne by taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows certain religious workers to revoke the §1402(e)(1) self‑employment tax exemption effective for taxable years after Dec 31, 2028, under specified filing and payment rules.
Allows certain religious workers who previously opted out of Social Security self-employment tax to revoke that exemption for future years beginning after December 31, 2028, subject to filing and payment rules. It also requires IRS (with SSA consultation) to create a notification plan to inform eligible ministers, religious order members, and Christian Science practitioners about how to revoke the exemption.
Official title: Clergy Act
Introduced January 7, 2025 by Vince Fong · Last progress April 28, 2026