nottheonlydreamer

I'm not sure what I wrote caused you to think that I think it's better to guess than check but I, assure you, I don't. Working with a CPA (as in we have retained a CPA to not only prepare tax returns but to advise on tax implications of financial decisions) is, I think, absolutely relevant. Thanks John. His highest earnings years are prior to 2010. I'll run the numbers through the calculator.

Thanks to everyone for your input. There is, obviously, a lot to consider. We ARE working with a CPA and I work with CPAs and lawyers (though none with familiarity of clergy income or 403bs). Please keep the input coming, if you'd like. Keep in mind that he has paid into "the system" since he was in his teens (though, of course, his income in the early years was quite low). Not that I'm an expert but I don't see where not paying into Medicare on all of his earnings at age 59+ might cause a problem.

Thank you, John. Yes, you assume correctly.

Thank you. I have read Pub. 571. These are the questions I still have and/or clarification I'm seeking after reading it and quite a bit of information from other sites.

Hi All, My soon-to-be (marrying in 2016) minister hubby is facing some very large tax liabilities and has zero retirement savings (outside of Social Security), due to pathetic and egregious (if not downright “criminal”, in my opinion) tax return preparation and planning by his former tax preparer, bad and/or non-existent advice from his home church and somewhat willful ignorance of his own financial and tax situation. I am involved because A) I realized the first time I saw his tax return that something was very wrong and started asking questions B) am in the accounting field (not a preparer or CPA, though) and love it so I understand all of “this” much more than he does and, C) am a bit panicked at the thought of having my modest retirement savings the source of support for both of us in the not-so-distant future (he is 59). He/we do now have what I believe to be quite adequate tax representation but I would also like to get input from those of you who seem to know what you're talking about and, with the October tax deadline looming, his CPA is somewhat unavailable. For now, we have increased his withholdings substantially and are about to open a 403(b)9 in order to defer income to decrease his tax liability. My questions regarding the TPA are probably going to be another post. He makes approximately $30,000 in salary and $20,000 via housing allowance. My fantasy is that we can defer the majority of his compensation to the 403b plan (we can both live off of my income). If I understand correctly, income deferred into a 403b is exempt from both income and SE taxes. Am I correct? If I understand correctly his housing allowance cannot be deferred to a 403b because it is not considered taxable income (even though he pays SE tax on it). Am I correct? If he cannot defer the housing allowance, can his church contribute into the 403b instead of paying the housing allowance (which would reduce the SE tax)? If the church can contribute: Would that make it impossible for the retirement distributions be allocated to housing expense? If the church cannot contribute: Should we request that the church reduce his housing allowance and increase his salary in next year's contract in order to defer a larger amount of income? By the way, no, he did not file form 4361 because he was not aware of it until it was too late (and, likely wouldn't have filed it anyway because he doesn't really feel “right” about it). My apologies for the long post and my thanks in advance for any input you have. ~Stephanie ETA clarification.