Tax season is here: a time when churches must prepare forms such as W-2s for employees and should provide givers with written acknowledgments of tax-deductible tithes and offerings. In addition, the filing of annual tax returns by ministers and other taxpayers is due by April 15. The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) provides [...]
There is a great new way to give for people 70-1/2 and older who have an IRA. Actually, it is not new, but now it is permanent and advantageous even for middle class taxpayers for their federal and state income tax. Many people will not be able to itemize deductions on federal income taxes since [...]
We, here at your State Board of Missions, seek to provide helpful assistance to each and every pastor/planter in Alabama. Lee Wright, one of your fellow state missionaries, and I were discussing the new tax laws for 2018 recently. We thought you might benefit from knowing about some of the less published nuances of the [...]
Did you know that one out of four girls and one out of six boys will be sexually abused before age 18? Further, two out of three victims will not tell until adulthood, if ever. The church should be the safest place on earth for a child, but sometimes it is not. Richard Hammar, nationally-known [...]
The greatest area of difficulty in a minister’s tax filing is his or her dual status, according to Lee Wright, state missionary in the office of LeaderCare and church health at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM). A minister is an employee for federal income tax purposes and self-employed for Social Security taxes, [...]
January is a very busy month for churches concerning year end reporting. Here is some important information for the start of the new year that every church should know. The IRS has released the mileage rates for 2016: 54 cents per mile for business miles driven, down from 57.5 cents for 2015 19 cents per [...]
Turnaround Churches: How to Overcome Barriers to Growth and Bring New Life to an Established Church, by George Barna (Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books, 1993), 120 pages. The North American Mission Board indicates that 82 percent of Southern Baptist churches have plateaued or declined in attendance. Such a shocking pronouncement has caused the Southern Baptist Convention, the Alabama [...]
Your Sunday morning service has just ended. The Church Treasurer takes the offering home and counts it, later deposits it, records contribution records, reconciles the bank statement, writes checks, and prepares a financial report for the church to approve at the next business meeting. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, many of our churches have very few financial [...]
IRS Mileage Rate The IRS business mileage rate for 2015 has just been released and is 57.5 cents per mile 2014-2015 Medical expenses – tax treatment The basic principle is that payment for a group healthcare plan is a non-taxable benefit; the payment or reimbursement of individual insurance is taxable. This is a major change [...]
No, this is not a math class, but it is about priorities. Larry Burkett, Ron Blue and Dave Ramsey have spoken to a basic principle for years with regards to spending and budgeting: Money should follow priorities. Let’s consider how Alabama Baptists are doing with this principle. The 2013 audit of the Alabama Baptist State [...]