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Apply clergy, military, decedent-income, and other-tax provisions
Some taxpayers have special tax situations: clergy with housing, service members with duty-driven deadlines, a personal representative filing for a decedent, beneficiaries collecting income the decedent earned, and returns carrying other taxes on their own lines. This lesson applies each set of rules without mixing them.
A minister's housing arrangement has two halves. For SE tax, an approved Form 4361 exemption reaches only ministerial earnings; a side business stays in SE tax. For income tax, a rental or parsonage allowance is excluded only up to the smallest of three figures: the amount actually used for housing, the amount officially designated, and the fair rental value including furnishings and utilities. Any designated amount above the smallest is an excess allowance in wages, and the excess test runs against the smallest of reasonable salary, fair rental value plus utilities, and amount actually used. Housing treated this way still allows mortgage-interest and tax deductions as itemized deductions.
Rev. Cole's reasonable salary is $40,000, above the housing figures. He is designated $18,000, spends $17,000, with rental value of $17,500. The exclusion is $17,000, the smallest. The $1,000 excess over amount used stays in wages. Under an approved exemption, the ministry-related base leaves SE tax while a $4,000 non-ministerial profit remains subject to SE tax.
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an approved exemption only applies to earnings you receive for ministerial services, discussed earlier. It doesn't apply to any other self-employment income.View on the source
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rental allowance, you may exclude from gross income the smallest of:View on the source
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Excess rental allowance. You must include in gross income the amount of any rental allowance that is more than the smallest of: • Your reasonable salary, • The fair rental value of the home plus utilities, or • The amount actually used to provide a home.View on the source
Rev. M has an approved Form 4361 exemption. This year M earns $30,000 for ministerial services and $8,000 of net earnings from an unrelated bookkeeping business. How does the SE-tax exemption apply?
Military provisions follow duty. A member serving in a combat zone gets an automatic extension of the deadline to file, pay, and claim a refund. The extension runs 180 days after leaving the zone or the end of continuous qualified hospitalization, plus the days remaining to act when the member entered. Combat-zone pay is excluded from income, and the amount depends on rank: an enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned warrant officer leaves all combat-zone pay out of income, while a commissioned officer (other than a commissioned warrant officer) is limited to the highest enlisted rate plus imminent-danger or hostile-fire pay for each month of service or resulting hospitalization.
Sgt. Rivera, an enlisted member, deploys to a designated combat zone in March, before the April deadline. Her filing, payment, and refund-claim deadlines are automatically extended for the service period, measured as 180 days after she leaves plus the days she had left when she entered. None of her combat-zone pay is included in her income. A commissioned officer serving the same month excludes combat-zone pay only up to the highest enlisted rate plus imminent-danger or hostile-fire pay.
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The deadline for filing your tax return, paying any tax you may owe, and filing a claim for refund is automatically extended if you serve in a combat zone.View on the source
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First, your deadline is extended for 180 days after the later of: 1. The last day you are in a combat zone or the last day the area qualifies as a combat zone, or 2. The last day of any continuous qualified hospitalization (defined later) for injury from service in the combat zone. Second, in addition to the 180 days, your deadline is also extended by the number of days you had left to take action with the IRS when you entered the combat zone.View on the source
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If you are an enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned warrant officer, none of your combat zone pay is included in your income for tax purposes.View on the source
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The amount of your exclusion is limited to the highest rate of enlisted pay (plus imminent danger/hostile fire pay you received) for each month during any part of which you served in a combat zone or were hospitalized as a result of your service there.View on the source
A member of the Armed Forces serves in a combat zone. How long is the deadline for filing the return, paying tax due, and filing a claim for refund automatically extended?
Death creates filing duties first. The personal representative first applies for an EIN for the estate, gives notice of the fiduciary relationship on Form 56, and files the decedent's final Form 1040 for the year of death plus any unfiled returns for preceding years; a refund due a deceased taxpayer is claimed on the return itself. A surviving spouse filing a joint return files only the return, and a court-appointed representative files the return with a copy of the appointment certificate; every other filer claiming the refund attaches Form 1310. The representative and the surviving spouse can generally file a joint return for the decedent and the surviving spouse. Income in respect of a decedent then is income the decedent earned but did not report before death. Cash-method accruals, unpaid bonuses, and similar amounts are included. The recipient — estate or beneficiary — includes the amount in gross income with the same character it would have had in the decedent's hands. Where the same dollars also increased the gross estate, the recipient deducts the estate tax attributable to them, so the amount is not taxed twice in full.
A cash-method consultant dies on March 2. The personal representative, holding the estate's EIN, files the final Form 1040 covering January 1 to March 2. A $12,000 fee invoiced but unpaid at death was not on the final return. The estate collects it and includes $12,000 as ordinary IRD. Because the $12,000 was also in the gross estate, the estate claims the attributable estate-tax deduction on the income-tax return.
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The personal representative (defined earlier) must file the final income tax return (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) of the decedent for the year of death and any returns not filed for preceding years.View on the source
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Generally, the personal representative and the surviving spouse can file a joint return for the decedent and the surviving spouse.View on the source
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The first action you should take if you’re the personal representative for the decedent is to apply for an EIN for the estate.View on the source
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If you are appointed to act in a fiduciary capacity for another, you must file a written notice with the IRS stating this. Form 56 is used for this purpose.View on the source
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1310 Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased TaxpayerView on the source
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Claiming a refund for a deceased taxpayer. If you are filing a joint return with your deceased spouse, you only need to file the tax return to claim the refund. If you are a court-appointed representative, file the return and include a copy of the certificate that shows your appointment. All other filers requesting the deceased taxpayer’s refund must file the return and attach Form 1310.View on the source
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In general, IRD is income that a decedent was entitled to receive but that was not properly includible in the decedent’s final income tax return under the decedent’s method of accounting.View on the source
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The character of the income you receive in respect of a decedent remains the same as it would have been to the decedent if the decedent were alive.View on the source
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If the estate or trust includes IRD in its gross income, and such amount was included in the decedent’s gross estate for estate tax purposes, the estate or trust is allowed to deduct in the same tax year that the income is included that portion of the estate tax imposed on the decedent’s estate that is attributable to the inclusion of the IRD in the decedent’s estate.View on the source
T dies during the year. A personal representative is appointed for the estate, prior-year returns are unfiled, the surviving spouse is willing to file jointly for the year of death, and a refund may be due to T. What must the representative do?
Other taxes collect liabilities that are neither regular income tax nor employment tax. Schedule 2 gathers them: each liability is computed on its own form and carried to the other-taxes total. Uncollected social security and Medicare tax is figured on Form 8919 when a firm treated a worker who was really an employee as an independent contractor and did not withhold; household employment taxes owed for having a household employee enter on their own line. The task is identification and routing: name the liability, find its line, and keep it out of the regular-tax computation.
A $500 uncollected-tax amount from Form 8919 joins the Schedule 2 total on its own line rather than altering regular taxable income. Household employment taxes owed for a household employee are entered on their own line in the same total.
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Use Schedule 2 if you have additional taxes that can’t be entered directly on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR.View on the source
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If you are an employee who received wages from an employer who didn’t withhold social security and Medicare tax from your wages, use Form 8919 to figure your share of the unreported tax.View on the source
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Enter the household employment taxes you owe for having a household employee.View on the source
T has a household employee during the year and owes household employment taxes. How are those taxes reported?
The course asks you questions like these as you learn, brings back the ones you miss, and ends with full-length practice exams.
See the course Or take the free 12-question checkGroundSkill is independently produced and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the IRS. Sources last checked 2026-09-14. Exam preparation, not tax advice.