If you pay a household employee, you may have to withhold taxes
If you have a housekeeper, maid, babysitter, gardener or other employee that you pay throughout the year, you may actually be liable for withholding taxes on their wages. Unlike service providers or independent contractors, household workers are technically your employees because you control the work they do and how they do it. If you do…
What is the Gift Tax Exemption in 2020?
If you gave a large gift or received a large gift, you may be wondering about gift tax. Here’s the details on this rare tax: Gift tax is never paid by the recipient. If someone gifts you $30,000, you don’t have file a gift tax return or pay gift tax. The giver is responsible for…
Tax-Filing in 2020: What Is My Tax Bracket?
If you are keeping an eye on next year’s taxes, you should know that the tax brackets for 2020 are available. All of the brackets are the same as 2019 (37%, 35%, 32%, 24%, 22% and 12%), but the thresholds have slightly increased. This means if you are earning the same taxable income in 2019…
What to do if you can’t afford to pay
Life is unpredictable, especially during a pandemic. If you weren’t able to pay your return timely for whatever reason, don’t panic. Here are some tips to help: Even if you can’t pay, you should still file your return. There is a penalty for late-filing a return, and it is based on how late the return…
Paper Filing your Return? Expect to wait longer
The extended tax filing deadline of July 15th has arrived. Due to closed service centers and limited staffing resulting from the pandemic, IRS has severely fallen behind on processing paper returns and answering phones. IRS says that they are processing paper returns in the order they are being received, but that still doesn’t help the…
One Week to Filing Deadline
The 1040 filing deadline is one week away. If you still have not filed or started gathering your information, there are two big things you can do to make your life easier down the road. First, file an extension. Your return deadline can be extended to October 15th, 2020, but only if you ask. You…
IRS Confirms It Has No Plans To Extend The Filing Deadline
The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service have announced that the 2019 tax filing deadline remains July 15, 2020. Due to COVID-19, the original filing deadline and tax payment due date for 2019 was postponed from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. Ministers who cannot meet the July 15 due date…
Five Quick Return Double-Checks
Are you getting ready to file your 1040 return by the July 15th deadline? Here are five quick things to double-check before submitting your return. Double check your name and Social Security number. Though it may seem common sense, this is especially important for people who have changed their name during the year or for…
Can I refuse to take my salary?
In difficult economic times, Churches must make tough decisions about what bills they can afford. Sometimes Ministers refuse their salary in order help the Church. If you refuse to take your full salary for the year, do you still need to report it as taxable income? The answer, like all good tax questions, is “it…
Is It Time for A New Clergy Tax Advisor?
Selecting a tax advisor or accounting firm may seem easy at first. There are two types of professional services within our industry. The first type is called a “Generalist”, which prepares any and all returns for the public at large. They may have a limited number of clergy returns or none at all. They do…