Individual
Tax Preparation
How Does it All Work?
Tax preparation usually consists of meeting with a preparer for an hour once a year to prepare your annual tax returns. If you have questions through the rest of the year, you’re stuck with the internet (or your brother-in-law) and hope the advice you receive is accurate.
However, I believe in a relationship that meets the client’s needs, whatever they may be. Some people want to be able to ask questions and get accurate answers, and we’re glad to do that at no charge. Others are brave enough to prepare their own tax returns but want a qualified person to look them over to see if they’ve missed anything, and I also do that for free. And then, of course, there are those who want nothing to do with preparing their own tax returns and would rather have an expert do it for a reasonable fee.
Your Income Tax Philosophy
If you do ask me to prepare your tax returns, I begin with an interview to determine your philosophy. Do you want a big refund (which means less money in your paycheck during the year), more money throughout the year (which may mean a balance due at tax time), or the bottom line to be zero (no refund or balance due)? I then prepare your returns, using my years of education and experience to do them correctly. I also counsel you on changes I see coming in your life. Perhaps a child will no longer qualify for the child tax credit next year, you have a child entering college, you have a child getting married, or you’ll need to take the required minimum distribution from your traditional IRA. I make sure you understand the tax implications.
After the Return is Filed
Your relationship doesn’t end when I finish your returns. I’m available all year for questions. Perhaps you plan to withdraw money from your 401K or start a business, or perhaps you receive an inheritance (or whatever) and want to know the tax consequences. I’ll offer advice and guide you through the process. If you receive a tax letter, I’ll work with you to resolve the issue. If you discover you need to file an amendment, I’ll take care of that for you also.
Financial Seminars
Learn Sound Financial Principles
It became obvious during the preparation of tax returns that most Christians are unable to contribute significantly to the Lord’s work because they fail to follow good financial principles. They are often slaves to debt, and this impacts their ability to give biblically. My goal is to teach them to reduce or eliminate debt and follow biblical financial principles, which will allow them the freedom to use their money as the Holy Spirit leads.
I present principles promoted by Christian financial leaders such as Ron Blue, Larry Burkett, Randy Alcorn, and Dave Ramsey. I try to take advantage of the tried-and-true principles that great Christian leaders have taught for years. Each principle is backed up by scripture and presents God’s wisdom and not man’s.
The seminar consists of eight weekly class sessions 60 – 75 minutes long. Each session is followed by a homework assignment, which is directed at each person’s own financial situation. Those who faithfully do the homework each week will profit the most from the seminar. The homework is not collected but is designed to help each person understand their own financial situation better.
Seminar Topics & Downloads
Tax Seminars
What you don’t know CAN hurt you. Many people overpay their taxes because they’re afraid of being audited or because they’re ignorant of tax laws. While my intent is not to teach everyone to become a tax preparer, I do want you to understand your own tax situation well enough to make sound decisions. When you sign your tax return and file it, the IRS holds you accountable for its accuracy. Therefore, you need to have confidence in your tax return regardless of whether you prepared it yourself or had a professional do it.
My goal is to provide assistance to you in any way I can – answering your questions, reviewing a return you’ve done yourself, or doing it for you. Therefore, I’ll try to answer your questions during this seminar.
I’ve been working with pastors and churches for many years, and we’ve found there’s a great dearth of information and understanding of how tax laws apply to churches and their employees. This is particularly true in smaller churches. Typically, the treasurer is someone who can keep a checkbook fairly well but has had little training or experience with legal requirements. Most church leaders hold their positions because of their spiritual maturity and background (which is a good thing) but have had little exposure to the law. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that their actions could jeopardize the tax exemption of the church and even affect them personally.
In the meantime, pastors usually devote themselves “to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4 KJV), which is also a good thing. They feel they were called to be pastors, not accountants, and so they leave the financial areas to deacons or other church leaders. Therefore, you typically have pastors who are trusting the deacons to get it right and deacons who are struggling to know how to get it right.
Thankfully, there are a number of resources available to help both pastors and deacons get it right. Many of these are free and are available with the click of a mouse.
My goal is to provide assistance to you in any way I can – answering your questions, recommending resources, and guiding you through the maze of tax laws. Therefore, I’ll try to answer the following questions during this seminar.
Giving
- How should donations of property be handled?
- Should you accept pass-through gifts?
- Should designated giving be allowed?
- How should contributions be documented?
- What are the IRS giving rules?
- What are the rules for giving to short-term mission trips?
Employee Compensation
- What benefits are taxable?
- How do you document housing allowances for pastors?
- Are Christmas gifts taxable?
- Can you give benevolent gifts to employees?
- What is an accountable spending plan?
- Should pastors pay FICA?
- Are holy land trips taxable for pastors?
- When should 1099-MISC forms be issued?
Pastors
- Are pastors self-employed or employees?
- What is the definition of a minister?
- What kind of record keeping is the pastor required to submit?
- Is it permissible to have different employee groups?
In Acts 6, the apostles were being distracted from their ministry by a problem with the distribution of food to the widows. They asked the church to appoint some godly men to oversee that ministry so they could give themselves “continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4 KJV). That was a commendable solution to the problem. However, many members of the clergy today devote themselves so completely to the ministry that they ignore their own stewardship responsibilities.
While it’s not my intent to train pastors to calculate and file their own tax returns (although it’s possible), I feel that a pastor should sufficiently understand what’s required on his tax return to know whether it’s accurate since he is considered responsible by the IRS for that return. There are a number of things, such as dual status and housing allowance, which make clergy tax returns much more complicated than the average individual tax return.
To be a good steward of the resources God has given him, a pastor needs to understand what’s allowable under tax laws and keep the proper records. He also needs to be able to guide his church to do things in a way that’s beneficial for him and the church.
My goal is to provide assistance to you in any way I can – answering your questions, reviewing a return you’ve done yourself, or doing it for you. Therefore, I’ll try to answer the following questions during this seminar.
Philosophy
- What does the Bible say about taxes?
- Is it biblical to use tax laws to your advantage?
- What is the definition of a minister?
- What does dual status mean?
- Is a minister an employee or self-employed?
- Should you opt out of social security?
- Are benefits better than salary?
Income and Deductions
- Are honorariums taxable?
- Are special offerings for pastors considered taxable income?
- How should a housing allowance be calculated?
- What are double deductions?
- Can housing allowance be a part of retirement income?
- How do you calculate EIC (earned income credit)?
Expenses
- What business expenses can be claimed?
- What is the Deason rule?
- What is an accountable spending plan?
- What record-keeping is required for a church credit card?
- What record-keeping is required for accountable spending plans?
- What record-keeping is required for non-accountable spending plans?