Clergy Tag

Before you make your musician, tech guy, or childcare worker an independent contractor, check to see if they meet this test! The Biden administration has yet to determine the test for defining employees from contractors. But they are leaning towards California’s “ABC Test,” which really...

As tax season comes to a close and your ministerial staff starts getting their returns, they might want to re-think their housing allowance for 2022. Here’s a quick “how-to” to simplify that process! To satisfy IRS requirements, churches are responsible for 3 key things: Determine Eligibility. Ordained, licensed,...

While ministers are employees for federal income tax reporting purposes, they are self-employed for Social Security purposes with respect to services they perform in the exercise of their ministry. This means that they must pay both the employee and the employer share of social security tax...

As someone who has been burned out, I know it’s not a question of if your staff is experiencing burnout, but how many of them are already burnt out. Most people have no clue. I know I didn’t. It’s not that we are clueless. We think...

If you work for a nonprofit that's funded by grants or donations, you need to keep iron-clad records in order to account for every penny if you're ever audited. However, that doesn't mean you need to retain all your files forever. Nobody's got the storage...

The regulations on nonprofit auditing vary from state to state. There are federal laws that mandate audits for certain nonprofits too. First and foremost, you should educate yourself on the laws in your state and investigate whether you are legally required to undergo an audit....

We’re still in Q1. There are still some people sticking with their New Year’s Resolutions, most are still excited about what the new year has to bring, and pretty much all of them are still mistakenly writing “2021” fairly often. The beginning of the year is...

Under federal law, most ministers have dual tax status. Dual tax status means a minister is an employee of the church for federal income tax purposes, and self-employed for Social Security and Medicare taxes. For ministers, wages are reported in two different ways: Federal Income Tax...

After reading about the Housing or Parsonage / Manse Allowance, you may be thinking, “if I designate my entire salary as a Housing Allowance, would it all be excluded from federal income taxes?” IRS has already addressed this by limiting the Allowance to the least...

The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) provides a way for churches to provide both tuition, books, supplies, and student loan payments tax-free through January 1, 2026. THE CORONAVIRUS AID RELIEF AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT (THE “CARES ACT”) OF IRC Section 127 allows churches to reimburse up to $5,250 per employee,...