MinistryCPA - Corey A. Pfaffe, CPA, LLC

Question: A church has a member preparing to go to the mission field. Before she leaves she is required to be debt-free, including college loans of $35,000. If friends give money to the church with the understanding that the funds may be used for the purpose of repayment, are the gifts deductible since they are given to the church? Answer: It is a very common experience that missionaries supported by a church have friends in the congregation. These contributions are tax-deductible as long as the church has established a fund and communicated its interest to support the missionary's endeavors. Typically, a church will forward these funds to the missionary's mission agency since it provides oversight in his or her financial matters. Churches that issue this compensation directly to the missionary must comply with the reporting requirements of the Internal Revenue Code--using Form W-9 to obtain the missionary's name, address, and identifying number and using Form 1099-MI...

Question: At times, a church gives out monetary "thank you" gifts to volunteers regularly involved with ministry. It has considered this to be a "benevolence." Since there is a "service" done, though with no monetary reward in mind, is this still benevolence, or should this be considered a Form 1099-MISC item? Also, if this is done on a regular basis, would this now be considered more of an employer/employee item? Answer: These gifts should be considered taxable income. If the "volunteers" are independent contractors, then Form 1099-MISC should be issued to each individual paid $600 or more. Employees should be issued Form W-2 with applicable withholdings. IRS Publication 3079--Tax Exempt Organizations and Gaming--addresses some of these issues with an example. While I personally am opposed to gaming activities, the IRS position on volunteers can be seen by reviewing portions of the publication. "Example: ABC Organization operates ...