Do Amish Pay Taxes? What They Owe and the Social Security Exemption

Yes, the Amish pay taxes. They pay federal and state income tax, property tax, sales tax, and fuel taxes on the same terms as anyone else. The one meaningful carve-out is a religious exemption from Social Security and Medicare self-employment tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 1402(g), and it is narrower than most people assume. So when someone asks whether the Amish pay taxes, the accurate answer is that they pay almost all of them, with one specific exception tied to their beliefs about insurance and community care.

The Taxes Amish Households Pay in Full

Income from farming, furniture making, construction, retail, and every other Amish trade is subject to federal income tax at the ordinary rates. Amish taxpayers file returns, claim deductions, and pay what they owe. States that impose an income tax collect it from Amish residents too. There is no religious exemption from income tax at any level.

Property tax is the same story. Amish families often own substantial acreage, and those parcels are taxed like any other privately held land. A large share of local property tax revenue funds public schools, and the Amish pay that portion in full even though their children generally attend private one-room schoolhouses that the community builds and maintains at its own expense.

Sales tax applies at the register when Amish customers buy lumber, hardware, fabric, groceries, or anything else that a given state taxes. Fuel taxes are paid at the pump. Amish farmers who use gasoline or kerosene off-road for equipment or home heating can claim the same federal fuel tax credit available to any farmer by filing IRS Form 4136, but the excise tax itself comes out of the purchase price upfront.¹

The One Exemption: Social Security and Medicare

The exemption people ask about is specific. Under 26 U.S.C. § 1402(g), a member of a qualifying religious sect who is conscientiously opposed to accepting benefits from any public or private insurance can apply for exemption from self-employment tax, which is how self-employed workers fund Social Security and Medicare.²

This is not a waiver from “all taxes” and not even from all payroll-related taxes. It removes the Schedule SE line for approved individuals. An Amish dairy farmer, woodworker, or family running a roadside market would otherwise owe self-employment tax on that income; with an approved exemption, they do not.

The statute is careful about the shape of the objection. The applicant must object to benefits from “any private or public insurance” covering death, disability, old age, retirement, or medical care.² An objection to government programs alone would not qualify. The point is that the community, not an insurer or an agency, takes responsibility for its members.

How the Exemption Is Granted

Nothing about this exemption is automatic. The individual files IRS Form 4029, the “Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits.”³ The application documents membership in the sect and waives all Social Security and Medicare benefits, including any the applicant might otherwise draw on someone else’s earnings record.

The Commissioner of Social Security must also make three findings about the sect itself:

It has established tenets opposing participation in insurance programs.
It has a longstanding practice of making reasonable provision for members who are sick, disabled, or elderly.
It has existed continuously since December 31, 1950.

All three must be satisfied.² The 1950 date blocks newly formed groups from organizing around a payroll-tax dodge, and the “reasonable provision” requirement makes sure members who opt out of federal safety nets have a real one at home.

One further limit: anyone who has already received or become entitled to a Social Security or Medicare benefit before filing Form 4029 is disqualified. Collecting first and opting out later is not allowed.²

Where the Exemption Does Not Reach

This is the part that surprises people. Section 1402(g) covers self-employment income. Wages paid by an employer sit under a different rule, and the outcome is often less favorable.

Amish Employer, Amish Employee

Under 26 U.S.C. § 3127, both sides of the FICA tax, the employer’s share under Section 3111 and the employee’s share under Section 3101, can be waived, but only when both the employer and the employee are members of a qualifying sect and both have their own approved exemptions on file.⁴ Qualifying employers here are individuals, partnerships, and certain LLCs, not corporations.

Amish Employee, Non-Amish Employer

When an Amish worker takes a job with an employer who is not a member of a qualifying sect, Section 3127 does not apply. The employer withholds FICA from the Amish employee’s wages and pays the matching share. Those workers pay into Social Security and Medicare that their beliefs will keep them from ever collecting. The National Taxpayer Advocate has flagged this and recommended a refund mechanism, but no such provision exists in current law.⁵

Amish Employer, Non-Qualifying Employee

The reverse applies too. An Amish business owner with an approved Form 4029 who hires non-Amish workers, or Amish youth not yet baptized, has to withhold and remit FICA for those employees. The owner’s exemption does not transfer.

What Happens if Someone Leaves the Faith

The exemption depends on active membership and adherence to the sect’s teachings. Someone whose circumstances change must notify the IRS within 60 days. The exemption ends for the entire tax year in which the person first stops qualifying.⁶ From then on, self-employment tax and FICA apply normally. Credits toward Social Security also start accumulating, but from zero: years spent under the exemption produced none. A person who leaves in their 40s or 50s may have trouble reaching the 40 quarters required for full retirement eligibility.

Why the Government Grants the Exemption

The exemption survives because Amish communities genuinely provide the care that Section 1402(g) requires them to. Congregations collect voluntary tithes called alms, and members are typically encouraged to give around 10% of annual income. Deacons assess needs and distribute funds, and when a bill exceeds one congregation’s capacity, neighboring congregations can be asked to help. Many communities also participate in programs like Amish Hospital Aid, which covers a large share of major hospital costs after the family pays an initial portion.⁷ These arrangements are not insurance in the legal sense; they are the community mutual aid the exemption assumes.

Put together, the picture is straightforward. The Amish pay income tax, property tax, sales tax, and fuel tax. Self-employed members who meet strict conditions can be released from Social Security and Medicare tax on that income, and in a narrow employer-employee setup both sides can be released from FICA. Outside those specific situations, an Amish taxpayer’s obligations look like anyone else’s. The idea that the Amish don’t pay taxes mistakes one targeted religious accommodation for a general exemption that has never existed.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4136 and Schedule A
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1402 Definitions – Section: Members of Certain Religious Faiths
3
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 3127 – Exemption for Employers and Their Employees Where Both Are Members of Religious Faiths Opposed to Participation in Social Security Act Programs
5
Taxpayer Advocate Service. Allow Members of Certain Religious Sects That Do Not Participate in Social Security and Medicare to Obtain Employment Tax Refund
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 517 (2025), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy and Religious Workers
7
PMC (PubMed Central). Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing