First Quarter Tax Calendar for Churches and Ministries

JANUARY

Hold an Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors.

In this meeting, you will want to cover:

1. Designating the minister’s housing allowance
2. Elections of directors and officers
3. Any ratifications of prior acts
4. Financial reports

If you don’t know what the agenda should be or what to cover in the annual meeting, we provide a service that can prepare annual meeting minutes for you. With meeting minutes prepared for you, all you have to do is gather your board members together and approve each item listed.

If you have not yet held your annual board meeting, you will want to schedule that as soon as possible.

JANUARY 31

Provide Tax-Deductible Contribution Statements.

For everyone who has made contributions to your church or ministry, you will need to provide them with tax-deductible contribution statements.

Provide and File Tax Forms.

W-2

You will also need to provide Form W-2 to all of your employees, including the pastor.

Be sure to carefully document any qualifying health insurance premiums your church paid for its staff. Per IRS requirement, you will report that information on line 12 of Form W-2.

If you would rather have someone else file your taxes, our Minister’s Tax Return Service will file your taxes correctly. Plus, you’ll save money by getting every legal tax benefit allowed to you.

W-3

Send Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, to the Social Security Administration along with Copy A of all employee W-2s you issued for the calendar year 2019.

If you have the Tax Suite, all you need to do is follow the instructions to file Form W-3 with your W-2 forms electronically. If filed electronically, the due date is extended to April 2.

1099-MISC

Provide 1099-MISC forms to independent contractors, including guest speakers and unincorporated landlords who received $600 or more in payments or honorariums in 2019.

If you paid anyone in royalties of $10 or more, give that individual a Form 1099-MISC.

If you used the services of an attorney and paid $1 or more for his or her services, you must issue a 1099-MISC.

You can refer to here for any further forms and instructions regarding filing to the IRS.

Apply for Self-Employment Tax Exemption.

Self-employment tax exemption is an excellent way for pastors and ministers to save on their taxes. You can learn more about this tax benefit by reading one of our blogs here.

This is the perfect time to apply for the Self-Employment Tax Exemption before the deadline on April 17.

File Form 941 and Others.

File Form 941 (payroll tax) for the 4th quarter of 2019 and deposit any unpaid taxes.

Or, if your employment tax liability was $1,000 or less and the IRS sent you a written letter to allow you to use 944, file Form 944 for the 2019 tax year.

File Form 945 to report income tax withheld (backup withholdings) for 2019 on independent contractors, including citizen and non-citizen guest speakers.

FEBRUARY 14

If your church or ministry has non-ministerial employees and deposits payroll taxes monthly, the January 2020 payroll tax deposit is due.

FEBRUARY 28

Send Copy A of Form 1099-MISC with Form 1096 to the IRS. For those of you who have the W-2 and the 1099-MISC Kit, you can just follow the instructions provided.

If you file these electronically, the due date is extended to April 2.

MARCH 16

If you have non-ministerial employees and deposit payroll taxes monthly, the February 2020 payroll tax deposit is due.

First posted on StartCHURCH.com. Used by permission.

Christine Bové
Christine Bové

Christine Bové works on StartCHURCH’s Care Team. Every day, she serves on the front lines of customer service and helps out with the Tech Support Team. She is passionate about helping pastors make their dreams of starting a church come true.