Tax Season

This year’s tax donation letters (documenting your qualifying charitable 2025 donations) will be sent out by postal mail on January 30, 2026.

Note: Shares you are assigned to send to Samaritan Ministries or to other members of Samaritan Ministries are not considered a tax-deductible donation at the federal level or for most states. At the present time, Shares you send to other members are only considered a tax-deductible expense if you are filing with the State of Missouri or the State of Indiana; if this applies to you, please visit Shares in your Samaritan Dashboard and select Shares History to view your 2025 Shares.

No. As far as we are aware, the IRS does not consider Shares you send to other members as an itemized personal deduction on Schedule A.

In the past, we have seen that claiming medical bills for which Shares were received has caused members to have an issue with the IRS. We recommend conferring with your tax adviser before doing so.

No. While Samaritan Ministries is recognized by the IRS as an exempt charity, only donations given beyond the administrative fees and monthly Shares you are assigned to send other members are deductible as a charitable gift.

As far as we are aware, the IRS has never considered the receipt of Shares from other Samaritan Ministries members to help pay your medical bills as income.

There are many friends of health care sharing ministries in Congress who want clarification and changes in the tax laws that would be beneficial to our members. There is a good chance for such changes to occur with the help of our members contacting their representatives in Congress. We will notify our members when we need their help contacting their representatives.

If you received Shares into your PayPal account that were accidentally sent via Goods and Services rather than Friends and Family, you may receive a 1099-K detailing the amount of these transactions.

For tax year 2025 and beyond, the 1099-K reporting threshold for third-party payment platforms (such as PayPal) reverted to the original, higher limit: $20,000 in gross payment across a total of more than 200 transactions in a calendar year. The updated rule eliminated confusion caused by the American Rescue Plan Act, which had lowered the threshold to $600.

Note: Member Shares are gifts from one person to another. To our knowledge, the IRS has never considered the receipt of Shares as income.

The 1099-K is not the IRS making a declaration on the taxability of those dollars, but merely showing the funds sent to your PayPal account via Goods and Services. You can find more information here: irs.gov/businesses/understanding-your-form-1099-k.

What does my Form 1099-K report to me?

Form 1099-K includes the gross amount of all reportable payment transactions. You will receive a Form 1099-K from each payment settlement entity from which you received payments in settlement of reportable payment transactions. A “reportable payment transaction” is defined as a payment card transaction or a third-party network transaction.

• Payment card transaction means any transaction in which a payment card, or any account number or other identifying data associated with a payment card, is accepted as payment.

• Third-party network transaction means any transaction that is settled through a third-party payment network, but only after the total amount of such a transaction(s) exceeds the minimum reporting thresholds.

The gross amount of a reportable payment does not include any adjustments for credits, cash equivalents, discount amounts, fees, refunded amounts, or any other amounts. The dollar amount of each transaction is determined on the date of the transaction.

Note: The minimum reporting thresholds apply only to payments settled through a third-party network; there is no threshold for payment card transactions.

Please confer with your tax adviser about the proper way to navigate the situation if you receive a 1099-K because of Shares being sent incorrectly.