Reporting of Clergy and Charitable Donations

Gain a better understanding of charitable contribution receipts and clergy housing allowance, as well as common filing errors.

Clergy taxes appear to be from a parallel tax universe. Every tax preparer has one or two clients that are religious workers. Religious workers are one of the few professions with unique tax treatment for both income tax purposes and for Social Security. Do you know the tax treatment? Clergy receive unique W-2s, and 1099-Rs. Clergy have negative expenses on schedule C.

The Schedule SE is based on a W-2. Clergy self-employment tax is the largest tax they pay and we are ill prepared to advise them. What are tax professionals to do and think? Every tax preparer has been asked by their favorite charity how to prepare a charitable receipt. Donors want iron-clad audit proof receipts. What can 501(3) organizations do to keep their donors donating? What charitable contribution receipts qualify as an acceptable receipt upon audit? What type of receipt is required to take the charitable deduction on your Schedule A? Payroll penalties are among the highest penalties our clients face.

Yet many church payrolls are prepared and processed by volunteers. Volunteers generally are not prepared to handle payroll and donor receipting due to the unique complexities in this areas of taxation. This information is presented by a CPA who prepares hundreds of clergy tax returns and payrolls every year. You will learn to identify a W-2 and 1099-R that is correct and how to prepare the tax returns for active and retired clergy.

You will identify which of the competing tax strategies is most appropriate for your clergy clients from seminarian to retired pastor. You will learn about the common errors that pastors and churches make related to compensation, expense reimbursement and charitable receipts and the correct way to handle these transactions.

Learning Objectives:

This Live Webinar Covers These Hot Issues:

Tax Objectives for Clergy

• Recent Seminarian or Youth Pastor
  
• Senior Pastor
  
• Retired Pastor

Clergy Dual Tax Status (Income and Social Security Tax)

• Employer Payroll Reporting, W-2, 941
  
• 1099-Misc vs. W-2
  
• Reporting on Form 1040, Sch. SE
  
• Approval of Clergy Housing
  
• Accountable Expense Reimbursement Plan

Clergy Housing Allowance

• Do I Really Get to Exclude Housing Expenses From Income and Deduct on Schedule A?
  
• Approving and Calculating Clergy Housing
  
• Current Litigation

Charitable Contributions

• What Is a Charitable Contribution?
  
• Cash Contributions
  
• Non-Cash Charitable Contributions

Credit Information (Sponsored by Lorman Education Services):

• CLE
• CPE
• AIPB
• NASBA
• Enrolled Agents

For Detailed Credit Information page click here

Only registered attendee will receive continuing education credit.

Instructor Profile:

Bret Willoughby, Providence Payroll Services, Inc.

• Partner in the office of Tax911.com, Inc. with clients in 30 states and 100 countries
• Owner of Providence Payroll Services, Inc. providing payroll services for churches and exempt organizations
• Tax911.com prepares 1,000 1040 returns for international teachers, clergy and business owners
• Several of our largest referral agencies are 'Protestant Religious Orders'
• CPA originally certified in 1988 and practiced in California, Wisconsin and Kansas
• Member of AICPA and KSCPA
• B.B.A degree in accounting, George Washington University; attended Fuller Seminary and studied Arabic and French at Universite Laval and Ohio State University
• Can be contacted at bret@tax911.com, 913-712-8539 or on Twitter® @taxmanbret911