(a) You may file an application with the Internal Revenue Service for exemption from social security self-employment tax if -
(1) You are a member of a recognized religious sect or division of the sect; and
(2) You adhere to the tenets or teachings of the sect or division of the sect and for this reason are conscientiously opposed to receiving benefits from any private or public insurance that -
(i) Makes payments in the event of death, disability, old age, or retirement; or
(ii) Makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services for, medical care (including the benefits of any insurance system established by the Act).
(b) Your application must be filed under the rules described in 26 CFR 1.1402(h). An application must contain or be accompanied by the applicant's waiver of all benefits and payments under title II and part A of title XVIII of the Act. See § 404.305 for the effect of the filing of the waiver and the granting of the exemption.
(c) Regardless of whether you meet all these conditions, your application for exemption will not be approved unless we find that -
(1) The sect or division of the sect has established tenets or teachings which cause you to be conscientiously opposed to the types of insurance benefits described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section;
(2) For a substantial period of time it has been the practice for members of the sect or division of the sect to make provision for their dependent members which is reasonable in view of their general level of living; and
(3) The sect or division of the sect has been in existence continuously since December 31, 1950.
(d) Your application for exemption will be approved by the Internal Revenue Service only if no benefit or other payment under title II or part A of title XVIII of the Act became payable or, but for section 203 or section 222(b) of the Act, would have become payable, to you or on your behalf at or before the time of the filing of your application for exemption.
(e) The tax exemption ceases to be effective for any taxable year ending after the time you do not meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section or after the time we find the religious sect or division of the sect of which you are a member no longer meets the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section. If your tax exemption ceases to be effective, your waiver of the right to receive Social Security and Medicare part A benefits will also no longer be effective. Benefits may be payable based upon your wages for and after the calendar year following the calendar year in which the event occurred upon which the cessation of the exemption is based. Benefits may be payable based upon your self-employment income for and after the taxable year in which the event occurred upon which the cessation of the exemption is based.
[45 FR 20075, Mar. 27, 1980, as amended at 58 FR 64890, Dec. 10, 1993]