How Do Churches Navigate Commercial Lease Agreements?
How Do Churches Navigate Commercial Lease Agreements? Though many established churches are long-time building owners, there are many newer churches or churches that have outgrown older facilities, which find themselves entering into commercial lease agreements. Just like the documents involved in purchasing a new residence or a new car, the commercial lease agreement may be…
IRS Releases 2021 Fringe Benefits Guide
The IRS updated Publication 15-B for 2021, the Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. This publication provides an overview of the taxation and exclusion rules applicable to employee benefits such as accident and health benefits, dependent care assistance, providing a car, cell phone, health savings accounts, group term life insurance coverage, etc. In general, fringe…
Vaccination, Return to Work, and Masking FAQ
Q1: Can we bring all employees back to the church office, but make the unvaccinated keep their masks on? In most states, yes.* Currently the CDC suggests that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most places (some workplaces will be an exception, such as healthcare settings), but that non-fully vaccinated people…
4 Unavoidable Legal Issues For Your Church
4 Unavoidable Legal Issues For Your Church As a church leader, there are certain things we don’t like to think about, but in the end, we cannot avoid them. 1) UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHURCH COULD GET SUED . . . AT ANY TIME It is a bad day when a summons is served. Yet in reality,…
FAQs About Form I-9
We receive a lot of questions about the I-9—the form used to verify the identity and employment authorization of all individuals hired for employment in the United States. Here are some of the most common: 1: How Should I-9s Be Stored? Separately. We recommend that you keep all I-9s in either a separate master file or…
IRS Processing Delays
The Internal Revenue Service closed the most recent filing season with more than 35 million in unprocessed tax returns, as the agency’s backlog grew markedly amid a crush of challenges related to the pandemic and economic relief efforts. The National Taxpayer Advocate indicated about 17 million paper tax returns are still waiting to be processed and approximately…
Is your Gift Taxable?
If you’ve given money or property to someone as a gift, you may owe federal gift tax, but in many cases, you will not. For example, there is usually no tax if you make a gift to your spouse or a charity. If you make a gift to someone else, the gift tax usually does…
Advance Child Tax Credit Payment Online Tools
The IRS just launched new online tools designed to help families manage and monitor the advance monthly child tax credit (CTC) payments. The first payment will be made on July 15, 2021. The tools include: Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant: allows families to answer a series of questions to quickly determine whether they qualify for…
Do you need a cell phone policy?
According to a variety of surveys, close to 80 percent of the churches said that employees couldn’t do their job efficiently without cell phones. Despite being an integral part of daily work, many churches still do not have an effective cell phone reimbursement policy in place. With constant updates and advancements in cell phone technology,…
Can you prohibit personal phone?
Q: Employees are spending a lot of time on their phones (scrolling social media, browsing the internet, listening to music or podcasts). Can we prohibit personal phone use during work hours? A: Yes, you can limit or prohibit the use of personal devices during work hours. Employees can be expected to give their undivided attention…
