Church Retirement Benefits Simplification Act of 1991

Church Retirement Benefits Simplification Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to recodify and revise qualifications for church retirement and pension plans. Makes employee contributions to such plans nonforfeitable. Allows ten-year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of accrued benefits derived from employer contributions. Allows five-to-fifteen year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to a percentage (25% to 100%) of such accrued benefits. Requires the plan to meet minimum vesting requirements. Provides that no employee shall be considered an officer, shareholder, supervisor, or highly compensated employee if such employee receives less than $50,000 per year. Excludes from such consideration employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement if retirement benefits were a subject of good faith bargaining.

Recodifies the authority of a church or a convention or association of churches to be treated as an employer making contributions to retirement income accounts.

Subjects church-related hospitals and universities to certain coverage and related rules in the case of a contract purchased by a church.

Requires distributions from retirement income accounts provided by churches to be in accordance with distributions under cash or deferred arrangements. Provides for determining the beginning date for such distributions.

Allows self-employed ministers and chaplains who work for non-church employers to participate in their church plans.

Provides that certain rules aggregating employees do not apply to churches.

Restores qualified voluntary employee contributions to church plans.

Treats self-employed ministers as employees for purposes of certain welfare benefit plans and retirement income accounts. Allows a deduction for contributions to retirement income accounts by such ministers.

Provides that a church plan maintained by more than one employer shall not be treated as a single plan.

Provides that accounting methods of deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations do not apply to a church plan.

Exempts a church plan from the requirement to maintain separate accounts for medical benefits for key employees.

Provides that the special rules for computing employee contributions to pension plans do not apply to certain foreign missionaries.

Repeals the elective deferral catch-up limitation for church retirement income accounts.

Allows church plans to annuitize benefits and increase benefit payments.

Provides that rules for self-insured medical reimbursement plans are not applicable to church plans.