What Does “Personal Use of Church Vehicle” Mean?
Personal use of a church vehicle for non-work-related purposes is a taxable perk known as a de minimis benefit. Personal use of a church vehicle includes: Your employee’s commute between home and work, if it’s on a regular basis. Trips unrelated to your organization’s purpose, work, trade, etc. Use on a vacation or on the…
2021 standard mileage rates decrease
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the 2021 standard mileage rates. Beginning January 1, 2021, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 56 cents per mile for ministry or business miles driven, down from 57.5 cents for 2020 16 cents per mile driven for medical,…
New W-4 questions on church compliance
Since we don’t want the IRS to put a target on your back or your employees to be under-withheld this year, here are the most frequently asked questions about the new W-4 to help you better understand it and be in compliance. Why did the 2020 W-4 change? The 2020 Form W-4 changed to simplify…
Before your first payroll of 2021
Like any aspect of the church, finalizing year-end payroll and starting a new year is best done with some planning and preparation ahead of time. Payroll processing is just another part of the financial responsibility–knowing the expectations ahead of time, and figuring out a timeline around them, will help you make the best decisions for…
Common Mistakes of Church Payroll
If you’ve ever experienced payroll errors first-hand, you know the extensive costs and time-consuming efforts that go into correcting them. Even the smallest of payroll slip-ups can snowball into serious, long-term issues and increased expenses, especially if those mistakes continually occur. But when mistakes happen, it’s important to determine what occurred and why, and then…
Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers!
When you need fast, accurate answers to your questions and don’t want to search the variety of online resources to only wonder if you found the right answers, contact Pro-Advisor Support. This support service provides you comprehensive answers to ALL your questions – all from one source. No more hunting through multiple sources! Ministers are…
FAQs about organizing personnel files
What guidelines should we follow when setting up and organizing personnel files at church? “Personnel records” are records kept by the church about an employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, additional compensation, or disciplinary actions. Employees’ medical files should be kept separate from their personnel files. This includes medical certifications, doctor’s notes, requests for family…
Bunch your itemized deductions
You choose every tax year whether to itemize or claim the standard deduction. With the standard amounts almost doubled by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the trend definitely is toward the standard amount, which for 2020 returns is $12,400 for single filers this year, $18,650 for heads of households, and $24,800 for jointly-filing married couples. If,…
Special $300 deduction for Charitable Donations in 2020
IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig recently issued a reminder that the IRS has “a new provision that allows for up to $300 in cash donations to qualifying organizations to be deducted from income. We encourage people to explore this option to help deserving tax-exempt organizations – and the people and causes they serve.” Ordinarily, you can…
Can I deduct the mortgage for a home that is being constructed? Does it qualify for the housing allowance?
The IRS allows for taxpayers to deduct all of the interest they pay on a construction loan within the 24 months before the home is completed. (See Publication 936 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p936) There are some rules in order to qualify for the mortgage interest deduction: You can treat a home under construction as a qualified home for…
