Housing Allowance
The housing allowance which you pay your Pastor in cash and the housing allowance the IRS allows your Pastor on an income tax return might not be the same number. The reason for this is that the IRS includes more expense items when calculating a housing allowance than the absolute minimum items these guidelines mention…
Parsonage Provided
 When a parsonage is provided, the congregation should pay for utilities and maintenance. (For tax purposes it is usually to the pastor’s advantage if items like utilities, maintenance, etc. be paid for directly by the congregation rather than to the pastor and then the pastor paying these expenses.) Parsonage Fair Rental Value In addition to…
Designating A Housing Allowance
Some congregations provide their Pastors with a housing allowance in place of a parsonage. This figure should reflect the realistic fair rental value of a home in the community, and would normally include such costs as insurance, utilities and taxes. Generally, a minimum cash payment of $12,000 is required for a housing allowance when a…
Who’s Exempt From Wage and Hour Laws?
Probably the most common — and confusing — exceptions to the overtime laws. Employees whom the law defines as “administrative, executive, or professional” need not be paid overtime. To fit into one of these exemption categories, you must be paid on a salary basis and must spend most of your time performing job duties that require…
Which Employees Are Entitled to Earn Overtime Pay
The church must pay overtime to all eligible employees unless they fit into an exception to the law. If you fall into one of these exception categories, you are “exempt” from the federal overtime law, which means you are not entitled to overtime. executive, administrative, and professional employees who are paid on a salary basis independent…
-Are preschool teachers subject to overtime-
The Department of Labor, which enforces the ELSA, does not consider preschool and day care workers to be “teachers” under the provisions of the FLSA. The Department takes this position even if the pre-school program incorporates educational activities designed to prepare young children for kindergarten. Given these facts, here are some general principles relating to…
What Counts as Overtime:
Federal and most state laws impose a weekly overtime standard, which means that nonexempt employees are entitled to overtime for every hour beyond 40 that they work in a workweek, regardless of how many hours they work in a day. For example, Alex is a nonexempt employee who works 12 hours on Monday and six…
Federal Student Tax Scam Alert
One of the newest tax scams making the rounds is directed at college and university students and involves what’s called a “federal student tax.” The Setup Here is how it works. A call is made directly to a student. The caller has some piece of information that links the student to the call, something like…
New Overtime Laws Could Affect Church Employees
The US Department of Labor announced that they had finalized a new law that has extended overtime benefits to nearly 4.2 million working Americans. Starting December 1, 2016, salaried employees that make less than $47,476 ($913/week) per year will be eligible for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a work week….
How Can Clergy Pay Estimated Taxes?
How to pay estimated tax. You normally make estimated tax payments four times a year. The dates that apply to most people for 2016 are April 18, June 15 and Sept. 15. There is one last payment on Jan. 17, 2017. You can pay online, by phone or from your mobile device. Direct Pay is…
