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, [...]
When we say the word “stewardship,” our minds immediately go to giving or the tithe. In the congregation, they immediately think “Oh, no, another ‘giving sermon!’” Actually there are not enough sermons on good stewardship. Jesus talked about money more than anything else except the Kingdom of God. 11 of 39 parables talk about money. [...]
Help create an accurate, reliable database that will be used by thousands of churches to help determine fair compensation for their church staff. In case your on the edge, here are three reasons why you should take the 2016 SBC Church Compensation Survey: Finance and personnel committees rely on the survey results to help them [...]
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 [...]
Insurance, overtime pay and staff salaries are three areas church administrators must pay close attention to, said Lee Wright, coordinator of church compensation services for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. Through the Affordable Care Act, health insurance is now mandated for everyone, he said. “There are increasing fines for those who have no [...]
Because ministers are unique in the way they pay taxes, churches must be careful in the way they do salary administration and tax reporting, according to Lee Wright, coordinator of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions’ office of church compensation services. Wright conducts five conferences around the state each year and directed the Church [...]
Many bi-vocational churches still operate under the old “lump sum” or “package approach.” “We will pay you $X.XX and you divide it any way you wish.” This can cause the minister to pay much more in taxes. Here are 4 easy ways to help your minister save on taxes, avoid confusion, help keep good church [...]
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 [...]
There are six requirements that must be satisfied in order for a contribution to be tax deductible. The IRS looks at the substance and not the form of a transaction as the controlling factor. Did the donor intend to make a contribution to the church or did the donor only intend to benefit the designated [...]