Clergy

Reason 1: Income Tax Deduction   Contributions to your 403(b) account are tax deductible for federal income and social security taxes. Putting money into the 403(b) reduces your taxable income for that year. For example, if you put $5,000 into your 403(b) account and your federal income...

16 January, 2020

One controversial provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, you may recall, required nonprofit organizations, including churches, to calculate unrelated business income tax on qualified transportation fringe benefits provided to employees. Among the benefits included were employer-provided parking and mass transit passes, as...

09 January, 2020

On December 16, 2019, U.S. lawmakers struck a tax-policy deal.  As part of the package, lawmakers agreed to repeal a part of the 2017 Tax Reform law that charged churches and nonprofits taxes for offering parking to their employees. It appears that if the nonprofit parking...

26 December, 2019

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service said recently that the Taxpayer First Act, enacted July 1, requires tax exempt organizations to electronically file information returns and related forms. The new law affects tax exempt organizations in tax years beginning after July 1, 2019. The following IRS...

19 December, 2019

The Self-Employment Taxes that most members of the Clergy must pay quarterly are actually made up of two different taxes: Old-age, survivors and disability insurance (also known as “OASDI” or the more commonly used term “Social Security”) Medicare taxes   OASDI taxes are calculated as 12.4% of...

12 December, 2019

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...

05 December, 2019

The minister’s housing allowance is a very important tax benefit available to ministers. Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code allows Ministers for Tax Purposes to exclude some or all of their ministerial income designated by their church or church-related employer as a housing allowance...

28 November, 2019

A new Call can be exciting, but the logistics of moving and setting up in a new location can stressful, even before thinking about your taxes. Here are a few things to consider when moving to a new location. Moving Expenses are Not Deductible   Regardless of whether...

14 November, 2019

From a personal income perspective, the first thing to understand is that the income tax code takes the position that any money paid to or for an employee is income unless specifically excluded by the tax code. In addition to a pastor’s base salary, there are...

07 November, 2019

A recent case in the for-profit world underscores the potential threat.   The News   “A company’s CFO is liable for its past-due employment taxes, a court says. He had control over the company’s bank account and oversaw all aspects of the firm’s operations and finances, including payroll, tax...

31 October, 2019