All Posts By Amy

When Should A Pastor Request A Housing Allowance?

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Any time you want tax-free housing!

While that answer is true, here is an excerpt from my book, The Pastor’s Wallet Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance, that will provide a bit more depth: 

Timing

Timing is very important when it comes to the housing allowance. A housing allowance can only be paid prospectively, not retroactively. That means you cannot go back in time. You can only take a housing allowance after it has been designated; any expenses incurred prior to the official designation are ineligible.

That is why leaving the designation open-ended is a good idea. Then you don’t have to worry about missing out on the housing allowance because you forgot to get it officially designated on time. You know you will always have it available to you and you only need to worry about the amount rather than the timing.

Many churches designate housing allowances by the calendar year since that is how most pastors file their taxes. If that is how your church does it, you should make sure to request your allowance in December of the prior year so that there is time for it to be officially designated before the start of the new year. 

Nonetheless, you can actually request a housing allowance at any time during the calendar year. The IRS has no restrictions on timing other than requiring the designation to be provided in advance of payment. So, if you enter the ministry or change churches in August, you should request your housing allowance immediately instead of waiting until the next January.

Changing Your Housing Allowance

Also, you can change your housing allowance at any time. If your housing situation changes dramatically mid-year, you can request a new housing allowance designation that will reflect that. For example, you purchase a home in June after having lived in a cheap apartment. You should request a higher housing allowance at the end of May in preparation for your move. 

The higher housing allowance amount would only apply to your expenses in June and thereafter. All of your housing costs up until the new designation would still only qualify for the lower, previous designated allowance. In this kind of situation, you would have to calculate your housing expenses for the two separate time periods, January through May and June through December. If you found at the end of the year that you had excess housing allowance from the second half of the year, you would not be able to use it for expenses from the first half of the year. 

Backdating A Housing Allowance

Sometimes, a church will fail to designate a housing allowance in a timely manner and they may want to backdate a resolution or pass one retroactively to allow a pastor to have previous expenses covered. That is illegal. Wrong. Bad. Not allowed. A SIN!

Knowing falsification of such a document is a crime under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There is no exemption for churches and pastors under the act and penalties range from fines to imprisonment. Aside from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, such behavior is subject to civil or criminal penalties under the tax code. Just don’t go there. Pay the taxes and learn your lesson for next time.

If you want to learn more about the clergy housing allowance, pick up a copy of The Pastor’s Wallet Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance on Amazon today!

Purchase The Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance by Amy Artiga
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I Just Passed The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Exam & Why I Did It

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About seven years ago, I decided I wanted to be able to help people with money. I had begun listening to Dave Ramsey to stave off the boredom of spending 12 hours a day alone with an infant and it was life-changing. I didn’t know much about money because my parents didn’t know much. All I knew was to work hard and save because eventually you always need money. 

I also knew that finances have a profound impact on your life and your relationships. My mom was a single parent with six kids in southern California, so I had experienced firsthand the levels of stress and anxiety that can come from financial struggles. In listening to Dave Ramsey, I realized that helping someone get control of their finances can change their life, their marriage, their family, and their future for generations to come. I wanted to do that.

Two Avenues For Financial Advice

I began to research and discovered that there are basically two ways to provide people with one-on-one financial advice: as a financial coach or a financial advisor. They share a lot of similarities, but financial coaching is basically unregulated while financial advisors are subject to a lot of regulations because they work with investments and manage money for people. I’m really more interested in the people than the money, so I thought I would become a financial coach. After all, it would be a lot easier to get started without having to jump through hoops for regulators.    

There was one problem, though. To discuss investments, you have to be registered as a financial advisor. While I didn’t want to manage investments, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to serve people adequately without being able to discuss investments. They are kind of an important part of personal finance, even if they aren’t your focus. So, I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to become a registered financial advisor and take on all of the regulatory burdens that come with it. 

Now, this wasn’t a path I was heading down because I needed to make money, but rather because I wanted to help people. Regular, everyday people like my friends and family, who wouldn’t normally be able to afford personalized advice from an expert. I decided that I wanted to develop a level of expertise that I could charge $500/hour for, but offer it to people who could only dream of being able to pay that much. 

What Is The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Designation?

In the financial advisory space, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation is the gold standard. There are numerous designations and certifications available, but the hardest and most respected is the CFP® designation, so that’s what I set my sights on. It was a pretty ambitious goal for a stay-at-home mom with no financial services experience. 

Education

There are four requirements for certification. The first is education, which consists of seven college-level financial courses. To fulfill that, I enrolled in the University of Alabama’s Family Financial Planning and Counseling program as soon as both of my kids were in school full-time. Little did I know that they would be coming home full-time halfway through the program. In spite of it all, I completed my Master’s in December 2020 (and am now officially a homeschool mom to boot!). 

Examination

The second requirement is an examination. You have to understand, this isn’t just a test like the final exams you took in college. This is a big, scary test. In 2019, only 62% of the people who took the test passed. They have to limit the number of times you can take it (5) because some people take it multiple times without being able to pass. It’s that hard.

Why? There are two reasons. First, it covers a ton of material (7 classes, remember?). Second, the question writers aim for the top of Bloom’s taxonomy. That means knowing the material and how to apply it is not enough, you have to be able to evaluate and analyze the information, which makes it seem very subjective. I know very intelligent people who have failed this test.

I studied hard for months and up until recently, passing felt absolutely impossible. 

But on Friday, March 12, 2021, I passed on my first attempt. YAY!!!

Experience

Passing the exam is a big accomplishment, but it’s not enough for me to be able to call myself a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificant. I need to have real-life experience as well. The requirement is either a 2-year apprenticeship doing financial planning under another CFP® professional or three years doing related work. I’ve already been at it for two years now, but it will still be several more years before I fulfill the experience requirement because I only work part-time (remember those two kids at home with me?). I’ll get there, though, because I love the team that I’m working with over at Guide Financial Planning.

Ethics

The final requirement is a commitment to a very high ethical standard and submission to a thorough background check. I think this one will be easy since Jesus has been my role model for a number of decades now. My background check will be pretty boring for them since I haven’t had a run-in with the law since I was 19 and curious to see how fast my car could go on an open, empty stretch of highway somewhere between San Diego and Sacramento. 

This is an important requirement, though, because most people place the financial industry right down at the ethical bottom along with used car salesmen and Congress. I came across a statistic recently that 65% of people don’t trust the financial services industry to do what’s in the best interest of their clients. I want to help change that statistic and while I would ascribe to high ethics no matter what, I appreciate that the CFP® designation values and requires it.  

 

What’s Next For Me

Does passing the exam make me a financial advisor? No. Because I haven’t met the experience requirement yet, there are a few more (much easier) hoops that I have to jump through in order to be registered as a financial advisor and legally able to provide financial advice for a fee. That’s next on my list and I’ll get it done soon. Until then, I will continue to build my expertise and serve you through this blog. 

This has been a long, hard journey and more than once I have been asked or asked myself, Why are you doing this? It’s not like I have to go through this much trouble just to register as a financial advisor and it’s not like I need it to support my family. However, I have a strong conviction of the Lord’s direction for my life and if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it with excellence. Whenever I start to doubt, I receive emails from my readers that remind me that I’m on the right path. This has been exhausting, but it is all worth it. Because YOU are worth it. 

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What To Do If Your Clergy Housing Allowance Exceeds Your Actual Expenses

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As we all know, nothing went quite as expected in 2020. In fact, for most of us, nothing went anywhere close to expected! Maybe you were planning on doing some work on your home and things got shut down because of COVID-19. Perhaps you were planning on spending some money on items for your home, but COVID-19 made you tighten your budget. Or things just didn’t go according to plan and it had nothing to do with COVID-19! (But we’re blaming everything on COVID-19 these days, right?)

While altering your plans is always annoying, it is a bit more significant for pastors when it comes to housing expenses. At the beginning of the year, you have to carefully estimate your yearly housing expenses in order to avoid paying taxes on them with the clergy housing allowance. You meticulously calculate your anticipated rent, utilities, home purchases, and big projects.

And then something like this happens. The whole world hits pause. Your plans get tossed by the wayside and your expenses were lower than the housing allowance that your church gave you. You should have been paying taxes on some of that money and you didn’t.

Now, what do you do?

Excess Housing Allowance Is Taxable Income

What the housing allowance is is a provision that allows you to exclude your housing expenses from gross income for federal tax purposes. At the beginning of the year, you tell your church how much of your income you plan to use for housing and that amount is not reported to the IRS as income.

However, if you don’t use it all for housing by the end of the year, you need to let the IRS know and pay federal income taxes on the rest. Let’s see what that looks like in real life.

Say your church pays you $60,000 a year. You designate $25,000 of that as a housing allowance so your church only reports to the IRS that you had $35,000 of taxable income.

If you only spend $22,000 on housing for the year, you have an extra $3,000 that you should have paid taxes on but didn’t. You need to add that extra $3,000 of housing allowance back into your income and pay taxes on it. Not doing so is tax evasion and will get you into trouble if the IRS audits you.

How To Report Your Excess Housing Allowance

So, how do you report it as income in order to pay taxes?

Add it in with your other wages on line 1 of your Form 1040. Then, on the dotted line next to it, write, “Excess allowance” and the amount. Here is an example:

Picture of Form 1040 with "Excess Housing Allowance 3,000" written on line 1 for clergy.

Yes, it is as simple as that. Now it is added in with your wages for when your taxes are calculated.

That’s how to include it for income taxes, but what about SECA, your Social Security and Medicare taxes? Well, you don’t have to worry about that at all. Because you always have to pay SECA taxes on your housing allowance, claiming too much won’t make any difference in what you have to pay. You are already paying the full amount on Schedule SE.

What You Can Do Differently For Next Year

Now, while ending the year with excess housing allowance may have made your heart skip a beat and worried you a bit, it wasn’t that bad, was it? With such an easy way to correct it, it’s often better to err on the side of claiming too large an allowance than too small.

Too many pastors don’t claim a large enough housing allowance and end up needlessly paying extra taxes. The best way to avoid that and limit your tax bill is by overestimating your yearly housing allowance.

There is one thing I need to note, though. There is a potential downside to overestimating your housing allowance.

Things To Watch Out For

Your housing allowance lowers your gross income for federal tax purposes and there are some important things that are limited by your gross income. The biggest one that most pastors need to watch out for is the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit. Claiming too much of a housing allowance can actually limit the amount of money you can get. This article explains why. Contributions made to retirement accounts are also calculated and limited based on income. There is a chance that by overestimating your housing allowance you could negatively affect the amount of money that you can save for retirement.

Make sure to look into those two things before blindly following my suggestion that overestimating is better than underestimating. Remember, just because you read something on the internet doesn’t mean it’s necessarily best for your unique situation.

Now that you’ve fixed last year’s housing allowance, what about this year’s? Is it already approved by your church with an accurate estimate or overestimate?

If not, you’d better get on it! The housing allowance cannot be used retroactively, so every day you procrastinate is another day that you are paying taxes on your housing allowance unnecessarily. If you need to make a change, make one. The IRS does not limit the amount of changes you make to your housing allowance or the timing of them, as long as they are done proactively.

Purchase The Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance by Amy Artiga
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How Everyone Can Deduct Charitable Contributions In 2020 & 2021

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A lot is said about the tax-deductibility of charitable contributions. After all, that is why your church went through the trouble of gaining 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. So that donors could get tax breaks.

Not everyone gets a tax break for their charitable giving, though. It all depends on how you file your taxes. 

Itemizing for Charitable Deductions

Usually, in order to get a deduction for your giving, you have to do something called itemizing deductions. It means that you list out all of the different things you are eligible to deduct and add them up. You have to fill out an additional tax form and track your giving, state and local taxes, medical expenses, and things like that. The other option is to take a standard deduction, which is a lot easier.

For 2020, the standard deduction for a single person is $12,400, for a head of household it is $18,650, and for a married couple it is $24,800. That means that as a married couple, if your state and local taxes, donations, etc. don’t add up to at least $24,800, you would take the standard deduction instead of itemizing deductions. And when you take the standard deduction, you get no tax benefits for your charitable giving.

2020 Charitable Deductions Under the CARES Act

Until 2020 and the CARES Act. The CARES Act that was passed in March at the start of the coronavirus pandemic allows for a $300 above-the-line charitable deduction for 2020. Above-the-line simply means that it is taken off before the regular standard deduction. That means that people who choose the standard deduction instead of itemizing deductions can get a tax benefit for their giving. Below is a picture of Form 1040 showing where to take the deduction.


What about if you itemize your deductions? Can you still take the special CARES Act deduction? No. Because you’re already taking it on Schedule A when you itemize. This provision doesn’t punish you in any way, it just helps out those who claim the standard deduction. 

Charitable Deductions in 2021

The CARES Act provision was only for the 2020 tax year. In December, another stimulus bill was passed that contains the same provision for 2021 and even makes it better. You see, the 2020 $300 deduction is always $300, whether you file as a single person or as a married couple. The deduction for the 2021 tax year removes the “marriage penalty” and allows a $600 deduction for joint filers.

To summarize, on your 2020 tax return, you can deduct up to $300 in charitable contributions, regardless of your filing status, even if you claim the standard deduction. And on your 2021 tax return, single filers will be able to deduct up to $300 in the same way and married filers will be able to deduct up to $600. That’s great news, especially now that 86% of people are claiming the standard deduction!

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How Pastors Can Claim The Earned Income Tax Credit

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Every year, the federal government hands out money for free. However, one out of five people who are eligible doesn’t claim it

That sounds crazy, right? Who foregoes free money? And how can you be eligible to get it?

For all you know, you might be one of the crazy ones. This free money I’m talking about comes in the form of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In 2020, the government handed out $57 billion in EITC alone. That means there was $14.25 billion last year up for grabs and some of it could have been yours.

What Is The Earned Income Tax Credit?

The EITC is the government’s attempt to offset some of the payroll taxes for lower-income workers. Everyone pays payroll taxes at a flat rate (more or less). It is not a progressive system like income taxes where those with more earnings pay a larger percentage of their income. To make things more progressive and lighten the load on those that don’t make as much, they created the Earned Income Tax Credit

The EITC is a refundable credit. That means first it is used to offset your income tax bill. If you’ve taken your tax liability down to $0 without using up all of the EITC, then the IRS will cut you a check for the remainder. Pretty nice, huh?  

How Does The Housing Allowance Affect The Earned Income Tax Credit?

The EITC is based on income, which is rather straightforward for most people. But not pastors. Does the housing allowance count as income or not? The answer to that question flips back and forth depending on the government program or tax benefit that you’re referring to. In this case, the answer is both yes and no. Like I said, not very straightforward.

If you have opted out of Social Security with Form 4361 or Form 4029, then your housing allowance DOES NOT count as income for purposes of calculating the Earned Income Tax Credit. If you’re exempt from self-employment taxes, then your housing allowance is exempt from counting towards the EITC. When you do still participate in the Social Security system, then your housing allowance DOES count as income for the EITC. It is part of your net self-employment income.

No Social Security = No Housing Allowance

Yes Social Security = Include Housing Allowance

How To Claim The Earned Income Tax Credit

If 20% of the people eligible for this refundable tax credit don’t claim it, how do you know if you’re one of them? The IRS has a nifty calculator, called the EITC Assistant, to help you. You’ll need to input your income, so make sure you are including/not including your housing allowance per the guidelines above. 

The first step in claiming the tax credit is filing a tax return. Even if you don’t owe any taxes, you will need to file a return in order to claim the credit. If you file your own taxes, make sure to follow the IRS instructions for calculating the EITC carefully. Here is a handy list that they’ve published of errors to watch out for. The EITC is a part of the regular Form 1040 tax return, so you will see it come up as you fill out your forms. When using tax preparation software, make sure that things are calculated correctly, because not all software is programmed properly for the minister’s housing allowance!

After reading this, you may be thinking about previous years’ returns and wondering if you missed out on some money. Worry not! You can claim the EITC for prior years by filing an amended return. This IRS page has all of the information you need in order to do it.

If you are looking for a tax preparer, there is a list of reader-recommended professionals at the end of this article.

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Who Is Responsible For The Clergy Housing Allowance: The Pastor Or The Church?

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Purchase The Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance by Amy Artiga

This is an excerpt from my book, The Pastor’s Wallet Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance

Pastor Housing Allowance Responsibilities

Pastor, when it comes to the housing allowance, you’re the man (or woman). If you want the tax savings that the clergy housing allowance provides, it’s on you. It’s not the church’s responsibility, it’s yours. You are the one who has to calculate your anticipated expenses for the year, submit them to your church, and make sure they approve it in time.

Also, it’s your job to track your expenses throughout the year to substantiate the housing allowance that you claim. Unlike an accountable reimbursement plan where you have to submit receipts to the church, hang onto your receipts. If you get audited by the IRS, you are the one that will have to answer to them, not your church. 

Church Housing Allowance Responsibilities

The church or denomination is responsible for officially designating the housing allowance before paying it. Until the official designation has been made, all payments count as taxable income. To make it official, the church must put it in writing as a part of an employment contract, in the church’s budget, in meeting minutes, in a church resolution, or “in any other appropriate instrument evidencing such official action.” (Treasury Regulation § 1.107-1(b)) The designation must simply identify a payment as a housing allowance as opposed to salary or other remuneration (pay).

Once the church has made the official designation, their only responsibility is to pay the housing allowance and record it properly. The allowance should be paid along with the minister’s regular wages, but the amount is not included with wages on Form W-2. In fact, the church does not report the housing allowance to the IRS at all. If it’s on the W-2 as wages, it’s taxable, so make sure your church does it right. That’s why you need to be extra nice to whoever does your church’s payroll. If you get on their bad side, it could cost you big time.

At the end of the year, the church needs to let the pastor know the total housing allowance for the year and it is the pastor’s responsibility to report that to the IRS on Schedule SE. If the pastor is exempt from self-employment taxes, then the housing allowance is never reported to the IRS at all. Isn’t that nice?

How To Report The Housing Allowance 

To inform the pastor of the housing allowance amount, the church may include it in an official letter or show it on Form W-2 in box 14. Box 14 is an informational box only, so employers have some flexibility in how they use it. The church can report the pastor’s housing allowance by writing something like “Housing: 20,000” in that box. The housing allowance should never be included with wages in Box 1. (If it is, have your church fix it and send you an amended Form W-2.)

Breakdown Of Responsibilities

Here is a breakdown of how the housing allowance works:

  1. Pastor calculates anticipated housing expenses for the coming year.
  2. Pastor requests housing allowance from the church.
  3. Church makes an official housing allowance designation.
  4. Church pays pastor housing allowance.
  5. Pastor tracks housing expenses throughout the year.
  6. Church informs pastor at the end of the year of how much was paid in housing allowance.
  7. Pastor files tax return, reporting housing allowance on Schedule SE (unless you have opted out, which is discussed later) and including excess housing allowance as taxable income on Form 1040.

This process should be repeated annually. If you have pretty steady housing expenses, you can request the church to designate your housing allowance in an open-ended manner. An example would be, “First Church designates a housing allowance of $25,000 a year for Pastor John. This designation shall be effective for the current year and all subsequent years unless otherwise provided.” That way, you don’t have to go through the process of requesting the housing allowance every year. Instead, you can skip steps 1-3 and only go back to them when your housing expenses change. Steps 4-7 must still be followed every single year, though. 

Even if you use open-ended wording, you should still calculate your housing allowance on a regular basis. Housing costs creep up gradually and if you’re not careful, you’ll end up paying taxes on a significant portion of your income unnecessarily. You can find sample housing allowance designations, worksheets to help you calculate your housing expenses, and an online calculator at pastorswallet.com/free-resources

If you want to learn more about the clergy housing allowance, pick up a copy of The Pastor’s Wallet Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance on Amazon today!

Purchase The Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance by Amy Artiga
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How The New Coronavirus Stimulus Bill Affects Pastors

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After keeping the nation on its toes for a week, President Trump signed a new stimulus bill into law on December 27, 2020. The stimulus bill was actually only a small part of the 5,000+ page Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 that funds the government until September. In addition to the stimulus bill, there were also some tax law changes tacked on to it as well. While you probably already know about the stimulus checks it authorized (and the political battle being waged over their amount), there are also other aspects of the bill that might affect you and you should be aware of. While none of it is pastor-specific (your housing allowance is still safe!), these are the parts that may impact you:

Stimulus Checks

Everyone’s favorite part is a new round of stimulus checks to be mailed out immediately. Though similar to the checks sent out this spring, there are still some important differences. First of all, the checks are worth $600 per eligible person. Eligible people are individual taxpayers and children that are eligible for the Child Tax Credit, namely those under age 17. This time kids and adults are worth the same amount of money, though some teenage dependents are still left out. 

Again, there is a phaseout so that higher-earners don’t get anything. The phaseout starts at $75,000 for individual tax filers, $112,500 for heads of household, and $150,000 for married, joint filers. Once you hit that amount of adjusted gross income (AGI), you will lose $5 of stimulus money for each $100 of income you have. For example, a single person with an AGI of $80,000 is $5,000 over the limit. As such, their stimulus check is reduced by $250 ($5,000/$100 *$5) and they only get $350 ($600-$250). If that person had two qualifying children, their benefit would be $1,550 ($600*3 people – $250 reduction).

The federal government wants to get these checks into people’s hands as quickly as possible, so they are calculating them based on the 2019 tax return income information that they already have. Nevertheless, these are technically tax credits for 2020 taxes. Thus, even if you don’t receive one because your 2019 income is too high, if it is lower in 2020 you can get the credit when you file your taxes. If things are the other way around, where you are eligible based on 2019 income but not 2020, you’ll still get the check in the mail and not be expected to pay it back. And, as before, these checks are not considered taxable income so nothing will be withheld (whether you tithe on it is between you and God!). 

Unemployment Benefits

What made this legislation so time-sensitive for many individuals is the fact that their unemployment benefits were set to run out this week. Under normal circumstances, you can only receive unemployment benefits for 26 weeks. The government wants to motivate you to find a job and get back into the workforce. However, that’s hard when the government itself has shut everything down and there are no jobs to be had. The CARES Act addressed that by extending unemployment benefits to 39 weeks. The current legislation tacks on another 11 weeks, pushing the expiration date out to mid-March for those whose benefits almost disappeared this week. 

Another 11-week extension of the CARES Act benefits relates to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. That program allows those who normally would not be eligible for unemployment benefits—contract workers, part-time workers, self-employed individuals, etc.—to receive benefits. If that’s you, you’ll be able to keep receiving benefits from that program through the end of March.

Extra unemployment payments are going to continue for another 11 weeks as well. These are the weekly payments above and beyond the normal unemployment amounts. Usually, unemployment only covers half of a person’s lost income. They want to incentivize people to get back into the workforce as quickly as possible. Since 2020 was anything but normal, the federal government augmented regular benefits first with $600 a week and then only $300 a week. That $300 a week extra payment will continue for 11 more weeks.

The last CARES Act unemployment enhancement that is being extended is the elimination of the one-week waiting period. Customarily, when you lose a job you have to wait a week before you can collect benefits. Now, if you get laid off today you will be able to start receiving benefits tomorrow. This, too, will last 11 more weeks.  

Flexible Spending Accounts

If you don’t have a flexible spending account (FSA), go ahead and skip this section. If you do, you’re in luck. As you know, FSAs are use-it-or-lose-it accounts. All of the money in them needs to be spent by the end of the year (some offer a 2 ½ month grace period or allow a $500 rollover) or it is forfeited. You usually select a contribution amount at the beginning of the year based on your planned expenses for the year. But 2020 didn’t exactly go as planned, did it?

Many people planned for summer camps that never happened, non-urgent medical care that was postponed, or childcare that was no longer needed when one parent ended up unemployed at home. The money that was supposed to pay for those things is still sitting in FSAs. Congress thought it wouldn’t be fair for so many people to lose their money at year-end because the pandemic turned the world upside down. 

The new bill permits employers to allow people to roll over 2020 funds into 2021 and 2021 funds into 2022. They can also adopt a grace period of up to 12 months for using the funds in 2021 and 2022. The key to all of this, though, is that these changes are not automatic. The employer has to choose to enact these changes. So, if you have an FSA, ask your church or HR department of your secular employer if they are going to give you some grace. If they haven’t already decided to do so, go ahead and nag them until they do. Within reason, of course. 

Required Minimum Distributions

If you haven’t reached your 70s yet, go ahead and skip this section. If you have, you’re probably familiar with required minimum distributions (RMDs). They are the amount you are required to withdraw from your retirement accounts (except Roth IRAs) each year so the government doesn’t have to keep waiting on the related taxes. This spring’s CARES Act waived RMDs for 2020 so that no one was required to take withdrawals. That provision was NOT extended with this new bill, so you will have to take your RMD again in 2021.

Student Loan Relief

Another CARES Act benefit that is going away is the student loan relief. Federal student loan interest and payments and collections on defaulted student loans have been suspended since March. That is only going to last until the end of January 31, 2021. At that point, you will have to continue to make any student loan payments you owe. Interest will begin accruing again as well. 

Charitable Contribution Deductions

Not all of the CARES Act benefits are going away. The above-the-line charitable deduction for those who take the standard deduction will continue into 2021 and even get better. For the 2020 tax year, up to $300 of charitable donations (such as your tithe) can be deducted per tax return, whether you file as a single or couple. For 2021, singles will still be able to deduct $300 and married couples will be able to deduct $600. It isn’t huge, since a $300 deduction when you’re in the 12% tax bracket only amounts to $36 saved. Every little bit counts, though.

Tax Credit Eligibility

There are some refundable tax credits that are based on earned income (Earned Income Tax Credit & Additional Child Tax Credit). Pastors always have to pay particular attention to these because of the way that the housing allowance decreases your earned income. There are situations where it’s actually more beneficial to limit your housing allowance in order to maximize these credits. 

Because so many people were unable to earn income during 2020, the new stimulus bill allows taxpayers to use either 2019 or 2020 earned income numbers when calculating the tax credits on their 2020 tax return. This is a nice benefit. That way you can calculate it both ways and use whichever numbers maximize the tax credits for you. 

This is only a small piece of the 5,593 pages of legislation that the President signed. It represents the provisions most likely to affect you as an individual. The bill also extended the Paycheck Protection Program, which you should look up if you think your church could benefit from it. For more information on the new stimulus bill from a financial planning perspective, this is a really good article to read.

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The Top 10 Personal Finance Blog Posts For Pastors Of 2020

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We’ve made it to the end of 2020. For the last blog post of every year, I provide a list of the top ten posts that have received the most views during the year. It gives you a chance to catch up on anything important that you may have missed during the year and it gives me the chance to slack off and write an easy post over the holidays. It’s a win-win, don’t you think?

Combined, these posts have been viewed around 60,000 times this year. What is everyone so interested in? Here they are in order of popularity: (Each title is linked to the article, so you can read them.)

1. Secular Jobs For Pastors: 9 In-Demand Skills You Already Have

This article was in the top spot last year as well and ranked #3 in 2018. I think it has become even more important this year as high unemployment rates and decreased giving have caused many pastors to look outside the church for income.

The post describes the different skills that most pastors have and how they can be communicated in a way that the secular world will understand (and appreciate!). The truth is that you already have a lot of highly-marketable skills, you just need to know how to translate them into secular vernacular. This is particularly helpful if you are looking to create a resume for a secular position. If that’s you, make sure to check out our article on writing a relevant resume as well.

2. Clergy Housing Allowance Calculator

This isn’t actually a blog post, but it’s the second most popular page on Pastor’s Wallet so I thought I should include it. It is a simple, interactive calculator that you can use to calculate your housing costs. It’s not overly sophisticated because I built it myself (contact me if you have skills in this area and want to make the site better!), but it provides you with an estimate of your annual eligible housing costs and a recommended amount to request based on adding a 10% buffer for unexpected expenses. If you haven’t checked it out, go ahead and try it for 2021!

3. How Much Housing Allowance Can A Pastor Claim?

This is a big question and I get a lot of emails asking me different versions of it. The housing allowance is one of the greatest financial benefits available to pastors, so it makes sense that you would want to maximize it. This article goes through the legal limitations on the housing allowance, how to apply the law to your particular situation, and some things to consider before actually requesting your housing allowance. If you aren’t already a housing allowance pro, this one is a must-read.

4. How To Calculate Fair Market Rental Value For The Clergy Housing Allowance

It isn’t any wonder that this article comes in right after the last since many people probably click over and read it from the last article. One thing you would read about how much housing allowance you can claim is that it is limited to the fair market rental value of the furnished home. That, of course, begs the question, How do you calculate fair market rental value? I wrote this article to answer that for you. 

5. 2020 Housing Allowance For Pastors: What You Need To Know

By now you’ve probably noticed a theme… housing allowance. It’s a popular topic on this blog. This article covers some important things for you to know about the housing allowance, including how it could affect your eligibility for the child tax credit, how it is affected by a home-based business, how to change it mid-year, and even how to claim one in retirement. The article also includes a free downloadable housing allowance worksheet in both .pdf and .xlsx formats. 

6. Do Pastors Pay Social Security And Medicare?

Now we move away from the housing allowance to another important topic, Social Security and Medicare taxes. This is a really important one for pastors because many don’t realize that their employer doesn’t withhold these taxes for them. Pastors are supposed to pay them themselves. If you don’t know that, though, you don’t pay them and if you don’t pay your taxes you can get into big trouble. Thus, this is an important article if you don’t already know how Social Security and Medicare taxes work for pastors (and that it’s different than for everyone else). 

7. Business Ideas For Pastors That Want To Make Extra Money

Back to making more money. Because we all know that the ministry doesn’t always pay the bills. This article goes through 15 different side gigs that you could use to supplement your income (or even turn into a full-time job or business). The best part is that they are all flexible enough to work around your ministry instead of competing with it. 

8. Why Don’t Churches Pay Payroll Taxes For Ministers?

This is another important topic, closely related to #6. It may not be the most exciting, but it is crucial for you to understand if you’re a pastor. Churches don’t pay payroll taxes for ministers. They can’t. This article explains how payroll taxes work and, most importantly, what happens if a church does try to help a pastor out with their payroll taxes. This is the kind of stuff that you really need to know.

9. Health Insurance For Pastors: What Are Your Options?

Despite all of the attention it has gotten over the last decade, health insurance is still a problem for many pastors. Most larger denominations offer group health insurance, but there are still a lot of pastors and churches left trying to figure everything out on their own. This article goes through all of the different options available for individuals, from the Obamacare marketplace to health sharing ministries to Medicaid and more. It also discusses options for churches that want to help out, even if they can’t afford to offer traditional group health insurance. There are a lot of options out there and this article walks you through each one.

10. Are Pastors Eligible For The 20% Qualified Business Income Deduction?

Rounding out the top ten for 2020 is the 20% qualified business income deduction. This is new to the tax code, created with the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017. It allows for a 20% deduction for Schedule C income to effectively lower tax rates for non-corporate businesses. They did this to make things more fair after slashing the corporate tax rate. Most pastors don’t see themselves as businesses, but some still have Schedule C income that is eligible for the deduction. The article explains what pastoral income is eligible and how to claim the deduction.

That’s it, the top ten for 2020. I know this has been a challenging year for most, so I want to thank you for your ministry and plagiarize the Apostle Paul with this prayer for you:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 15:13 (NIV)

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Aggressive Saving: Wisdom Or Lack Of Faith?

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Back when people were still allowed to get together, I was at an event for professionals and business owners where we discussed generosity. We watched a video testimony of a woman who God had asked to make some specific changes in her life to set her free. She was a doctor, and she felt led to “work like a doctor and live like a nurse” to free up her income to be more generous. She also felt that God was telling her not to save so much for the future.

In discussing the video at our table, a lot of people were impacted by the very last part, about not working so hard to save. Common knowledge says you should save as much as you can for your future and retirement. Could it be that this isn’t what God wants?

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Does The Down Payment On A House Qualify For The Minister’s Housing Allowance?

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Purchase The Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance by Amy Artiga

I don’t know about your neighborhood, but in mine, real estate is on fire. Houses that usually take several months to sell are now under contract within a matter of days. This sudden housing boom has caught a lot of people by surprise, especially since everywhere else you look the economy is struggling under the weight of COVID-19. However, with interest rates at record lows and people spending a lot more time at home with their families, it does make sense.

In addition to the houses on my street selling quickly, I have also been getting questions from readers who are jumping into the fray and buying homes. The big question for pastors is, Does a down payment qualify for the housing allowance? The answer is yes, but with a few caveats. 

A Housing Allowance Must Always Be Pre-Designated

First of all, the minister’s housing allowance is always proactive, never retroactive. It must be designated in advance for expenses to qualify. You cannot buy a home and then adjust your housing allowance to cover the purchase. Once you’ve spent the money, you can’t go back and call it a housing allowance. 

If you’re planning to buy a home, you need to have your housing allowance changed BEFORE you make the purchase. It must be officially designated by your church or employing organization, so you need to make a request in advance. How far in advance depends upon how quickly they work. 

Remember, it is easy to adjust for excess housing allowance at the end of the year, but there’s no second chance if you do not claim enough. Thus, it’s usually better to cover your bases and ask for an increased allowance even if you are not 100% sure that your purchase will go through. 

There Are Limitations To The Amount Of Housing Allowance You Can Claim

Even though it is an eligible expense, your entire down payment may not qualify for the clergy housing allowance. That is because the government has placed limits on how much you can claim. The allowed housing exemption is limited to the LESSER of:

  • Your actual housing expenses
  • The fair market rental value of the furnished home, including utilities
  • 100% of ministerial compensation

The one that gets most pastors is the second point, the fair market rental value of the home. In most cases, a down payment will push your actual housing expenses above the fair market rental value of the home because it is such a large chunk of money. Want to see how it works?

Example

Let’s say you buy a home on January 1. Your regular monthly expenses will total $2,500 (use this calculator to figure regular expenses). However, if you were to rent out the home with everything in it and cover the utilities, you could get $3,500 a month. The fair market rental value of the home for the year is $42,000 ($3,500*12). You can’t claim any more than that.

Your normal expenses will cost $30,000 for the year ($2,500*12), so you can claim $12,000 ($42,000-$30,000) of your down payment as well. Any down payment that you pay in excess of $12,000 will have to come from taxable income. If you purchase a home mid-year, you will do all of the calculations on a prorated basis, just as you would if you simply changed homes mid-year without buying.

Other Considerations

I know that some people try to work around this by having a smaller down payment and higher monthly payments. That could make sense in some situations, but it isn’t a sure thing. You need to look at how much more you are paying in interest over the life of the loan, how much your interest rate is affected by the size of your down payment (which could lead to paying more in interest), and things like whether or not you will have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). All of those things could make it more financially beneficial to have a big down payment, even if it does not qualify for tax exemption as a housing allowance. 

Remember, the housing allowance is just one tool (albeit a powerful one) in your financial toolbox whose purpose is to assist you in being a wise steward of that which God has entrusted to you. You must balance your use of the housing allowance, and the effort that you put into squeezing every last cent out of it, with the overall health of your finances and your relationship with money.

Purchase The Complete Guide to the Clergy Housing Allowance by Amy Artiga
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