Offerings for the Pastor

by Nikki
(Pine Bluff, Arkansas, US)

Thanks for the information that you provides. It's very helpful. I just want some clarity on offerings. We take up an offering every first Sunday for our pastor, just an extra way to say thanks. This is announced and can comtrolled by the church. In this case the donor offering is tax deductible and the pastor must treat it as extra income, right? But if someone just walk up to the pastor and give her an offering on their own, not controlled by the church, is that treated the same way or is that just a simple gift?

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Offerings to Pastor
by: Anonymous

Yes..if someone walks up to the pastor randomly with a 'cash' gift, he doesn't have to report it. Anything given to him through the church MUST be reported as income on his W-2.

As a note, please be careful with taking up offerings such as those you are talking about. From my understanding, if you ask the church to give offerings to the pastor, it could be considered illegal because of your tax-exempt status.

Collections such as those are supposed to be voluntary. That's why the personal offerings that are handed to him personally by hand don't need to be reported by the church.

I would suggest you stop taking up those collections and hold them only at certain times during the year during special occasions.

Even letters that are sent out soliciting offerings for the pastor are illegal. Govt. is very strict about that. ALL offerings like that MUST be reported as income to the pastor. Please consult with a tax professional before going further with that. You do not want to lose your tax exempt status.
Offerings for the Pastor
by: Anonymous - MN

Your are correct that monies given to your Pastor by the Church from giving which tax exempt credit has been recorded for the givers, needs to be reported as income for your Pastor.

If a person gives monies directly to the Pastor it can not be claimed as tax exempt giving by the giving person and would not be reported by the Church as income to the Pastor.

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