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If a church pays a portion of an employee's health insurance directly to the employee, is it considered taxable income?

congochurch wrote:If a church pays a portion of an employee's health insurance directly to the employee, is it considered taxable income?

Interesting question, I take it that this is the employee's portion of the health insurance, rather than the employer's ??

Our church reimburses employees for half of their health insurance each month. It is included in their monthly paycheck. Would it be considered taxable income? Or is it tax-exempt?

Irs pub 15 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf says:

page 33

Accident and health insurance premiums under a plan or system for employees and their dependents generally or for a class or classes of employees and their dependents.

You will need to talk to an accountant about this. I think the key here is if it is not a group plan of the church, and you are just paying part of their individual policies, then it would be considered additional comepensation and would be taxable. But you really want the advice of a qualified professional here.[/url]