What Nonprofits Need To Know About the Form 941 Deadline

Does your tax-exempt organization employ certain individuals to help carry out the mission of your group? If so, as an employer you are required to file Form 941 with the IRS quarterly.

ExpressTaxExempt is here to help your organization grow and flourish so we have gathered some important information regarding what nonprofit organizations need to know about the Form 941 deadline:

What is Form 941 & When is it Due? 

Also known as the Employer’s Quarterly Tax Return, Form 941 is used to report employment taxes quarterly and assists with calculating the employer’s portion of Social Security and Medicare tax.

The first quarter deadline for this year is April 30 and covers the months of January, February, and March.

If you do not file Form 941 by April 30, 2018, your organization could find itself responsible for paying Form 941 Penalties to the IRS. Avoid IRS penalties by e-filing Form 941 with ExpressTaxExempt’s sister product, TaxBandits.

E-File Form 941 Before The Deadline

While most people believe that filing taxes is a headache and takes all day and night to complete, our sister product TaxBandits eliminates that. Filing Form 941 with TaxBandits only requires two major pieces of information: Employer and Employment Details.

Employer Details

• Name of Employer
• Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Address

Employment Details

• Employee Count
• Medicare Tax & Social Security
• Deposit Made to the IRS
• Tax Liability (Monthly/Semiweekly)
• Signing Authority Information
• Online Signature PIN or Form 8453-EMP

Once you have submitted this information, all that is left to do is review the completed form, pay a small, affordable price per form, and transmit directly to the IRS. Just like that, you have avoided IRS penalties form 941 and compliance issues! 

File With TaxBandits and Stay Tax Compliant with the IRS

There are many components to running your organization and we want to help make handling tax filings one component that you don’t have to be stressed over. 

TaxBandits, a sister product to ExpressTaxExempt, is an industry leader for online tax preparation and tax filings which offers accurate and efficient e-filing at prices that can’t be beaten! Visit their website today to find out more information about Form 941 and the other services that TaxBandits offer.

Read More »

The Best Way To Handle Employee Holiday Requests

This is a guest post by Ariel Black of ACAwise; ACAwise is a full-service ACA reporting and compliance solution for Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) and Third Party Administrators (TPAs).

With Spring Break right around the corner for most students and educators, you may have some employees requesting time off for family vacations or spring getaways.

Let’s be honest, managing holiday requests can be a thorn in management’s side. However, with a little preparation, you will be rewarded with happier employees and fewer disruptions to your team. Learn how to handle employee holiday requests in style before it is too late.

The Best Way To Handle Employee Holiday Requests

Communicating Annual Leave

One of the most common problems with annual leave is finding out how many days your employees are entitled to. This luckily is easy enough. If an employee is salary or works full time, they are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid leave.

However, this is not the biggest issue with annual leave. Managers will find in many cases that their employees feel their annual leave is unfair.

Some of these reasons may include:

• Misunderstanding of their entitlements
• Certain roles deserve more than minimum entitlement

Tips and Advice for HR Entitlements:

1. Attractive Holiday Plans

Company-wise your entitlement plans need to be attractive to your employees. For a bare minimum the company must comply with laws and regulations but by offering extras will go a long way with the happiness of your employees.

Consider offering public or bank holidays as extras instead of including them with employee entitlements.

2. Fair Treatment of All

Another way to avoid disgruntled employees is to award entitlement fairly. Everyone should be treated the same, and there should be no favoritism involved when it comes to annual leave. Granting additional benefits to a select group of employees will only lead to disruptions within your team.

Consider increasing entitlement across the board as an alternative that will encourage loyalty among your employees.

3. Increase Understanding

This point can not be stressed enough. Make sure your holiday pay and entitlement program is clearly understood by all of your employees and easily accessed. The worst thing you can do is appear to be hiding something.

The holiday season can be hectic for everyone especially those in management, but when you prepare you can keep your employees focused and productive. Try using these helpful tips and suggestions to help avoid any disruptions within your workforce. Please comment, like, and share this informative blog for those who understand the pains of HR holiday management.

Ariel Black is a Content Marketing Manager for SPAN Enterprises, parent company to ACAwise. ACAwise is an all-in-one ACA reporting solution designed to track and monitor compliance throughout the year for ALEs and TPAs.

Read More »

Blessings on Blessings: The 411 on Earnings For Clergy

A familiar passage of scripture found in Luke 6:38 says: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom…”

Although financial blessings are greatly appreciated by all mankind, men and women of the cloth should take some precautionary measures when accepting monies for their ministerial services.

Licensed, Commissioned, or Ordained ministers are considered to be common law employees of a church, employed to provide ministerial services.

Some exceptions to this classification are made to those such as traveling evangelists who are self-employed under the common law.

As a minister that performs ministerial services, all earnings, including wages, offerings, and fees received for performing marriages, baptisms, funerals, etc., are subject to income tax, whether the amount was earned as an employee or self-employed person. The way you treat these expenses (related to these earnings) differs if you earn the income as an employee or as a self-employed person.

Church Employee vs. Self-Employed

Generally, clergy is considered to be an employee if the church or organization has the legal right to control what the clergy does and how they do it, even if there is considerable discretion and freedom of action provided.

As a minister, if a congregation employs you with a salary, you are generally a common-law employee of the congregation and your salary is considered wages for income tax that can be withheld.

Amounts of money received directly from members of the congregation, including fees for performing marriages, baptisms, or other personal services, are generally earnings from self-employment for income tax purposes.

NOTE: The salary you receive from a congregation and fees received from members of a congregation are subject to self-employment tax.  

Social Security/Medicare

Regardless of a clergy’s status under common law, ministerial services performed by clergy are considered self-employment earnings and are generally subject to self-employment tax.

Deductions

If you plan to itemize your deductions when filing, you may be able to deduct certain unreimbursed business expenses that are related to your services as a common-law employee on Form 1040, Schedule A (Itemized Deductions). Other forms that you could utilize when filing are:

• Form 2106 (Employee Business Expenses)
• Form 1040, Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business - Sole Proprietorship)
• This form is used if you are reporting self-employment income such as offerings or fees received for performing marriages, baptisms, funerals, etc.)
• Form 1040, Schedule C-EZ (Net Profit From Business - Sole Proprietorship)

Housing For Clergy

Minister’s who have been provided a parsonage (home) may exclude the fair rental value of the home, including utilities. Please note that the amount excluded cannot be more than reasonable compensation for the minister’s services.

Also, minister’s who receive a housing allowance may exclude the allowance from gross income to the extent that it is used to pay expenses in providing a home. The amount excluded cannot be more than the compensation of the minister’s services.

If a minister owns their own home, deductions can still be claimed for mortgage interest and real property taxes. If the housing allowance exceeds the lesser of the reasonable compensation, the fair rental value of the home, or actual expenses, it must be included in the amount of the excess in income.  

NOTE: The minister's employing organization must officially designate the allowance as a housing allowance before paying it to the minister. Also, the fair rental value of a parsonage or the housing allowance is excludable only for income tax purposes. The minister must include the amount for self-employment tax purposes.

Exemption from Self-Employment Tax:

GIF via GIPHY

Did you know that clergy could request exemption from self-employment tax?

Yes, ministers can request an exemption from self-employment tax for their ministerial earnings, if they are opposed to certain public insurance for religious reasons. Exemption can NOT be requested for economic reasons.

In order to request this exemption, one must file Form 4361 (Application for Exemption From Self-Employment Tax for Use by Ministers, Members of Religious Orders and Christian Science Practitioners).  This form must be filed by the due date of the minster’s income tax return (including extensions) for the second tax year that the minister has net earnings from self-employment of at least $400.

Moving Forward

As you continue to do the work of the Lord and make a difference in the lives of others daily, remove the burden of having to figure out how to file your taxes. With ExpressTaxExempt, we provide a simplified e-filing process that will suit all of your filing needs. Visit our website and save even more money when you e-file with our recently reduced filing rates! We’re available to assist you via phone at 704.839.2321 on Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST or reach out to us 24/7 via email at support@ExpressTaxExempt.com.

Read More »