W2 with no SS or medicare entries

[cpabsd]

Clients changed jobs during 2010. They are missionaries in the states and receive a W-2 from the home office. The W-2 has Federal wages and withholding but no SS or medicare entries. It looks like the W-2 from a pastor that I prepare but these folks are not ordained ministers. There is no housing allowance given. Is this treated like a regular W-2 or should I ask some additional questions and what would those questions be?

Thanks,

Bonnie

[Pacun]

Who is the issuer of the W-2?

Do taxpayers have a social security number?

What kind of visa do they have?

How many days/months were they in the United States?

What did they do in order to get paid?

[cpabsd]

The both have SSN's. The wife is a US citizen. The husband has a visa that allows him to work in US(not sure what kind of visa though). They came back to the states in June of 2010 and now work for Wycliffe Bible Translators. All the Wycliffe w-2 was earned as residents of the US. They do not qualify for Foreign earned income exclusion. They currently are raising funds to move to NC and work as maintenance/facilities supervisor of the home office. The wife will be doing office work. They each have separate W-2's. Thanks for any further guidance on how to treat this unique situation.

[Pacun]

The both have SSN's. The wife is a US citizen. The husband has a visa that allows him to work in US(not sure what kind of visa though). They came back to the states in June of 2010 and now work for Wycliffe Bible Translators. All the Wycliffe w-2 was earned as residents of the US. They do not qualify for Foreign earned income exclusion. They currently are raising funds to move to NC and work as maintenance/facilities supervisor of the home office. The wife will be doing office work. They each have separate W-2's. Thanks for any further guidance on how to treat this unique situation.

If filing jointly on global income, you can file 1040 without asking him for his visa type.

If he choses to be treated as NR, you will need to know his visa and file maybe 1040NR as MFS for both.

[chadlonetree]

There are a lot of organizations and denominations that may commission or license during the term of a missionaries work and they have not gone through an actual formal ordination process.

Another possibility is the organization or denomination may have exempted itself (Form 8274) on all employees, even those not licensed or ordained ministers. In this case all employees are subject to the full amount of SECA on their own.

The other possibility (and most likely) is the organization ran payroll and prepared the W-2's incorrectly.

[MAMalody]

Missionaries for Wycliffe are typically handled just like pastors. My guess is that the W-2 is prepared correctly, they did not have a housing allowance and are subject to the SE tax. If you check the prior year return, you will probably see it treated this way.