Clergymen are given special tax rules by the IRS. The most famous being the parsonage value being excepted from income tax.
So who is considered a clergyman in the eyes of the IRS? Can all sorts of Rabbis be included in this broad term?
"Ministers are individuals who are duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed by a religious body constituting a church or church denomination. Ministers have the authority to conduct religious worship..."
"Most services you perform as a minister, priest, rabbi, etc., are ministerial services. These services include:
• Performing sacerdotal functions;
• Conducting religious worship; and
• Controlling, conducting, and maintaining religious organizations (including the religious boards, societies, and other integral agencies of such organizations) that are under the authority of a religious body that is a church or denomination."
This IRS guidance seems to indicate that only clergymen who are specifically ordained and preside over a congregation are subject to these special rules.
However, there is addition to this guidance:
"Cantors. If you have a bona fide commission and your congregation employs you on a full-time basis to perform substantially all the religious functions of the Jewish faith, you can exclude a rental allowance from your gross income. "
While cantors are very different than rabbis, they are also eligible for this special treatment, due to their being employed on a full time basis for religious functions.
How about Clergymen who are religious schoolteachers, or perform some other kind of religious function?
They can also qualify for the parsonage exclusion, if they have some form of certification or ordination.
There is an important memo on this topic, from the Agudath Israel of America (a leadership and policy umbrella organization for Orthodox Jews in the US), written by leading attorneys and accountants in the field.
They advise that a rebbe (Jewish schoolteacher who teaches religion) who is taking the parsonage exclusion should have some form of formal ordination. Although they don't lead a congregation, these schoolteachers qualify, using the same basis which causes cantors to be eligible.
This would also include other kinds of rabbis who work full time in a religious capacity and have obtained some form of religious certification or ordination.
See the detailed memo for more important information:
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