Clergy Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5904 To allow a period in which members of the clergy may revoke their exemption from Social Security coverage, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 13, 2020 Mr. MCCARTHY (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Mrs. HARTZLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means 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 of 2020’’. 4 SEC. 2. REVOCATION BY MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY OF EX- 5 EMPTION FROM SOCIAL SECURITY COV- 6 ERAGE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 8 1402(e)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, any ex- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:00 Feb 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5904.IH H5904 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5904 IH emption which has been received under section 1402(e)(1) 1 of such Code by a duly ordained, commissioned, or li- 2 censed minister of a church, a member of a religious order, 3 or a Christian Science practitioner, and which is effective 4 for the taxable year in which this Act is enacted, may be 5 revoked by filing an application therefor (in such form and 6 manner, and with such official, as may be prescribed by 7 the Commissioner of Internal Revenue), if such applica- 8 tion is filed no later than the due date of the Federal in- 9 come tax return (including any extension thereof) for the 10 applicant’s second taxable year beginning after December 11 31, 2020. Any such revocation shall be effective (for pur- 12 poses of chapter 2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 13 and title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et 14 seq.)), as specified in the application, either with respect 15 to the applicant’s first taxable year beginning after De- 16 cember 31, 2020, or with respect to the applicant’s second 17 taxable year beginning after such date, and for all suc- 18 ceeding taxable years; and the applicant for any such rev- 19 ocation may not thereafter again file an application for 20 an exemption under such section 1402(e)(1). If the appli- 21 cation is filed after the due date of the applicant’s Federal 22 income tax return for a taxable year and is effective with 23 respect to that taxable year, it shall include or be accom- 24 panied by payment in full of an amount equal to the total 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Feb 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5904.IH H5904 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5904 IH of the taxes that would have been imposed by section 1401 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to all 2 of the applicant’s income derived in that taxable year 3 which would have constituted net earnings from self-em- 4 ployment for purposes of chapter 2 of such Code (notwith- 5 standing paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 1402(c)) ex- 6 cept for the exemption under section 1402(e)(1) of such 7 Code. 8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 9 with respect to service performed (to the extent specified 10 in such subsection) in taxable years beginning after De- 11 cember 31, 2020, and with respect to monthly insurance 12 benefits payable under title II of the Social Security Act 13 on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of 14 any individual for months in or after the calendar year 15 in which such individual’s application for revocation (as 16 described in such subsection) is effective (and lump-sum 17 death payments payable under such title on the basis of 18 such wages and self-employment income in the case of 19 deaths occurring in or after such calendar year). 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:00 Feb 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5904.IH H5904 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS