Skip to main content

Benevolence NOT Reportable on Form 1099-MISC

By
Question:
If an individual is given money (more than $600) by a church as benevolence is he or she required to file Form 1099?
Answer:
Form 1099-MISC is used to report Miscellaneous Income for each person to whom a business or charitable organization paid during the year at least $600 in rents, services, prizes and awards, and other income payments. A recipient does not file Form 1099.
Form 1099-MISC should only be prepared when payments are made in the course of a trade or business. Businessdictionary.com defines “course of business” as the daily or regular routine peculiar to a firm or trade, involving purchase, production, and sale of usual goods and/or services, and payment and receipt of money. Benevolence is defined as an act of kindness or generosity. When benevolence is given to meet the needs of individuals, it is considered a charitable program of the church, is not taxable, and does not need to be reported on a Form 1099-MISC.
If the benevolence is in return for services, it is taxable and needs to be reported on a Form 1099-MISC. Benevolence paid to employees is not taxable as long as it is not being used to disguise compensation. One-time gifts used to meet emergency financial needs of employees would generally qualify as benevolence and not be taxable (just as they would for members of the church or community who demonstrated emergency need).

The members of my Federal Taxation I class at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin have taken on the challenge of study and research to answer posted questions. James Jorgensen of Owatonna, Minnesota gets credit for this one.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rental of a Church Parsonage to a Non-Minister

By
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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Form 1099 Payments to 501(c)(3) Organizations

By Anonymous
Question: A church rented space from another church last year. Should it request a completed Form W-9 and issue Form 1099-MISC? Answer: Payments from one 501(c)(3) organization to another 501(c)(3) organization are not subject to Form 1099-MISC reporting. The IRS Instructions for Form 1099-MISC state that "payments to a tax-exempt organization" are exempt from reporting a Form 1099-MISC.  The following are typical examples of payments of $600 or more by a church which are subject to reporting a Form 1099-MISC: Rent paid to an individual (non-corporation) Payments for services rendered by individuals who are not employees (e.g. janitorial service, facilities, snow removal, guest speakers) Support sent directly to missionaries
2 comments
Read more

Housing Allowance and Form 1099-MISC Reporting

By
Question: A church provides its minister a housing allowance but believes it must report the full amount of compensation (including the non-taxable housing allowance portion) on Form 1099-MISC in order to demonstrate the full earnings of the minister. (Starting in 2020, Form 1099-MISC is replaced with Form 1099-NEC for non-employee compensation.) If the church reports his compensation, including the housing allowance, on the Form 1099-NEC as taxable income, will he be able to deduct his housing expenses somewhere else on the Form 1040? Answer: This question brings up a couple of issues. First, most ministers are properly classified as employees who receive Form W-2 , not as independent contractors who receive Form 1099-NEC . Box 1 on Form W-2 reports taxable compensation. It is reduced to reflect the church's designation of a portion of his pay as non-taxable housing. Then, in Box 14 (Other), Form W-2 typically reports as a memorandum item his additional non-taxable, housing allowa...
Read more