II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 639
To allow a period in which members of the clergy may revoke their exemption
from Social Security coverage, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY19, 2025
Mrs. B
RITT(for herself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To allow a period in which members of the clergy may
revoke their exemption from Social Security coverage,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clergy Act’’. 4
SEC. 2. REVOCATION BY MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY OF EX-5
EMPTION FROM SOCIAL SECURITY COV-6
ERAGE. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.— 8
(1) R
EVOCATION OF EXEMPTION .—Notwith-9
standing section 1402(e)(4) of the Internal Revenue 10
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•S 639 IS
Code of 1986, any exemption which has been re-1
ceived under section 1402(e)(1) of such Code by a 2
duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of 3
a church, a member of a religious order, or a Chris-4
tian Science practitioner, and which is effective for 5
the taxable year in which this Act is enacted, may 6
be revoked by filing an application therefor (in such 7
form and manner, and with such official, as may be 8
prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Rev-9
enue), provided that such application is filed no later 10
than the due date of the Federal income tax return 11
(including any extension thereof) for the applicant’s 12
second taxable year beginning after December 31, 13
2027. 14
(2) E
FFECT OF REVOCATION .— 15
(A) I
N GENERAL.—For purposes of chap-16
ter 2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 17
title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18
401 et seq.), any revocation described in para-19
graph (1) shall be effective— 20
(i) as specified in the application, with 21
respect to— 22
(I) the applicant’s first taxable 23
year beginning after December 31, 24
2027, or 25
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•S 639 IS
(II) the applicant’s second tax-1
able year beginning after such date, 2
and 3
(ii) for all succeeding taxable years. 4
(B) P
ROHIBITION ON SUBSEQUENT RE -5
QUEST FOR EXEMPTION .—In the case of any 6
individual who, pursuant to paragraph (1), has 7
revoked an exemption received under section 8
1402(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 9
1986, such individual may not subsequently file 10
another application for an exemption under 11
such section. 12
(3) I
NCLUSION OF TAXES OWED .—If an appli-13
cation described in paragraph (1) is filed after the 14
due date of the applicant’s Federal income tax re-15
turn for a taxable year and is effective with respect 16
to that taxable year, it shall include or be accom-17
panied by payment in full of an amount equal to the 18
total of the taxes that would have been imposed by 19
section 1401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 20
with respect to all of the applicant’s income derived 21
in that taxable year which would have constituted 22
net earnings from self-employment for purposes of 23
chapter 2 of such Code, as determined without re-24
spect to— 25
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(A) paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 1
1402(c) of such Code, and 2
(B) any exemption received under section 3
1402(e)(1) of such Code. 4
(b) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 5
with respect to— 6
(1) services performed (to the extent specified 7
in such subsection) in taxable years beginning after 8
December 31, 2027, 9
(2) monthly insurance benefits payable under 10
title II of the Social Security Act on the basis of the 11
wages and self-employment income of any individual 12
for months in or after the calendar year in which 13
such individual’s application for revocation (as de-14
scribed in such subsection) is effective, and 15
(3) lump-sum death payments payable under 16
such title on the basis of such wages and self-em-17
ployment income in the case of deaths occurring in 18
or after such calendar year. 19
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 20
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 21
of this Act, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in con-22
sultation with the Commissioner of Social Security, shall 23
develop and submit to the Committee on Ways and Means 24
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 25
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Finance of the Senate a plan to inform duly ordained, 1
commissioned, or licensed ministers of a church, members 2
of a religious order, and Christian Science practitioners 3
of their eligibility to revoke any prior election of exemption 4
from Social Security participation. 5
Æ
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