yay for tax day... (or not!)
>> April 15, 2010
Filing taxes as a member of clergy can be complicated. There are so many extra receipts to track, allowances to consider, and numbers to crunch.
A few years ago, my husband spent hours and hours every year poring over our tax returns to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Then he got a stroke of genius and began hiring an accountant to do it instead. The peace of mind that comes with having a good tax guy (who is familiar with all the latest clergy tax policies) more than makes up for the expense of his fee.
I'm guessing that different pastors have different arrangements, but another frustration we've faced with clergy taxes is that we have to pay them ourselves. So when we get that (already minuscule) paycheck every two weeks, we have to always set aside a certain amount for the quarterly tax payment. When the taxes are already removed, you don't necessarily notice so much - but when you have to take them out yourself, it can be almost physically painful.
So what do you do to get ready for Tax Day? Go online? Fill out the forms yourself? Send it off to an accountant? Got any tips to make the process easier? Fill in the rest of us on your strategies!
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