Skip to main content

Church Benevolence Fund Disbursements

Question 1:

Can church benevolence funds be given to a non-profit entity on the behalf of a needy individual who is being treated by that entity?

Answer 1:

Yes, as long as the disbursement is not a private enrichment of that individual or entity (the IRS calls it "private inurement"). Care should be particularly exercised if the individual is a church employee.

Question 2:

Can church members or non-members give gifts to the benevolence fund designating an individual as the one to receive the donation?

Answer 2:

Generally, no. The church must be careful to avoid conditions in which it could become a conduit for recharacterizing personal gifts or payments as charitable contributions. My general advice has been that the church can offer to assist the donor of non-deductible gifts in maintaining his or her anonymity, but that it cannot provide a tax deductible receipt.

Having said this, I do believe it is acceptable for the church to announce its corporate decision to support a needy individual and to subsequently take up a collection. I believe that donors can be given deductible receipts in these cases. Care must be taken however, I believe, to avoid situations in which a substantial portion of the collection comes from a source(s) that are otherwise obligated to pay for the needy individual's costs (e.g., a family member donating a large sum to pay for another family member's medical costs).

Of course, members are encouraged to give deductible donations of any size to the benevolence fund as long as there truly are no strings attached.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rental of a Church Parsonage to a Non-Minister

Question: A church owns a parsonage, but the pastor does not use it as he owns his own home. The church rents the parsonage to a tenant other than a minister or employee of the church. Will the church be responsible for paying income tax on these monies as Unrelated Business Income (filing a Form 990-T) even if the money is used to carry on the business of the church? Answer: Whether the money is used for church purposes is irrelevant.  IRS Publication 598  states: "If an exempt organization regularly carries on a trade or business not substantially related to its exempt purpose, except that it provides funds to carry out that purpose, the organization is subject to tax on its income from that unrelated trade or business." Fortunately, in the case of rental income from real property, such income is "excluded in computing unrelated business taxable income" (Publication 598). Caution: see content below regarding debt-financed property.  However, a second concern not a...

How can my ministry expenses be covered by the church?

     How can my ministry expenses be covered?                            Many ministers use their personal autos for ministry purposes. Their employers can reimburse these costs using a standard mileage rate published by the IRS. The per mile rate represents employees’ entire reimbursable cost other than highway tolls and parking tabs. If not covered by use of the ministries’ credit card, other costs can be reimbursed as well—business and travel meals, lodging, office supplies, and professional library purchases among them. Some ministries reimburse travel costs using per-diems published by the IRS. If employee business expenses are not reimbursed, the personal tax deduction benefit to the individual minister is severely limited. Non-taxable reimbursements after documentation is provided to the employer follows IRS rules for accountable plans. Non-taxable cash advances before expenses are in...

What is the best retirement account for a Minister?

       What are my options for retirement savings?                  Regardless of options, start now! You probably have learned about traditional and Roth IRAs. We have often found them well short of the benefits we will share here regarding Internal Revenue Code section 403(b) plans. These plans must be established by your employer (although you might need to be the initiator). They are funded in two ways—withholding from your paycheck at your option (called “elective deferrals”) and as initiated by the employer (matching or non-elective contributions). These contributions not only save income tax, but they also reduce the income you must report as subject to the 15.3% SECA tax. Further, at retirement with the cooperation of your church or Christian ministry the distributions to you can be tax-free to the extent of your qualified housing expenses. Many ministries also adopt what are often called “FICA alternative” be...