Tax and Corporate Governance (3)
Tax and corporate governance for churches and ministries
This legal memorandum provides guidance regarding whether, when, and how severance pay may be provided to church employees who are terminated from church employment. This memorandum is written partly in response to concerns among some church leaders that severance pay may be contrary to IRS prohibitions. Overall, however, severance pay may be lawful and appropriate under certain circumstances, provided that applicable safeguards are satisfied. A church’s responsible governing body should carefully evaluate the propriety and amount of severance pay according to several factors as explained below.
Annual Information Return (Form 990) Filing Requirements
Saturday, 10 March 2012 Written by Hugh Jones
This memorandum describes the annual information return filing requirements for religious organizations and other tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations (excluding private foundations and supporting organizations).
02/18/12 ... A minister may not claim more than one residence under the parsonage allowance exemption, based on the opinion in Comm'r of IRS v. Driscoll, issued February 8, 2012 by the Eleventh Circuit. For some time, debate has raged about this issue, both on statutory and fairness grounds, so this is an important decision.