While IRS issues the majority of taxpayer refunds in less than 21 days for electronically filed returns, in some cases return processing can be delayed. If it has been more than 21 days since your tax preparer electronically filed your return, or 6 or more weeks since you mailed in a paper copy of your…
Generally, non-exempt employees are paid hourly. We recommend instructing non-exempt employees to track all their time worked and prohibit working off the clock. Churches may use any timekeeping method they choose as long as it’s accurate and capturing all the required information (see below). For example, you may use a time clock, have a timekeeper keep track…
Under current tax law, the federal government allows 1040 filers to deduct 30% of the costs of installing a solar energy system, with no cap on the amount you can spend. However, these energy credits start to decrease after 2019. In 2020, you will only get a credit of 26% of your costs. In 2021,…
If you are new to Ministry, it’s possible that you’ve never heard of self-employment taxes before, much less paid them. One common mistake for new Ministers is filing the 1040 without taking self-employment taxes into account, which can result in a big bill later when your 1040 return gets corrected by IRS. When you work…
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia all have special student loan forgiveness programs for residents of their states. Many of the programs are in public service fields, such as health care, teaching, dentistry, legal, and more. Remember, there are still Federal Student Loan Forgiveness programs and Secret Student Loan Forgiveness programs as part…
When a church hires an employee, one of the initial decisions that must be made is whether to treat the worker as clergy, non-clergy employee or contractor. This decision may seem insignificant, but it has huge implications when it comes to payroll. Ministers have what is commonly referred to as “dual tax status.” For federal…
The Housing Allowance is one of the best tax benefits available to members of the Clergy, but also one of the most misunderstood. Here are five common misconceptions about the Clergy Housing Allowance. 1. I can only change my designation once a year. False. There is no IRS regulation stating that designations can only be…
You can, but it would need to be considered as extra taxable income. Gym membership dues are considered a personal expense. There is no tax law that excludes employee or employer paid third-party membership dues from taxable income. The only time the value of membership dues are excludable from income is if the employer provides…
In 2018, there were two hurdles to claiming a Medical Expense Deduction. First, you had to spend more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income on medical expenses. If you had a combined income of $100,000, you would first have to spend $7,500 on medical before you could claim any expenses. And that’s unreimbursed medical…
A lot of people used the Standard Deduction in 2018, rather than Itemizing. You may also wonder, as a member of the clergy, “Does take the standard deduction mean we don’t have to track housing expenses in 2019?” Unfortunately, the answer is no. Even if you used the Standard Deduction, you must still keep track…
