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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 4, 1986
PAGE 5
Church. We must •all speak the same thing.• Christ says that Be put the
offices of the ministry into the Church •For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ.• The only way we can bring the whole body into such
unity is by being unified ourselves. Let's really be diligent to follow
Mr. Tkach's fine example in promoting an openness and friendship between
the brethren and the ministry that reflects the family atmosphere that God
Himself desires in Bis Family.
•How good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity1• CPs. 133:1).
'l'u Review
As
the Feast has now concluded, the end of the year rapidly
approaches. It is time for you ministers in the United States to begin
putting your tax records in order for the tax return you will need to file
early next year. Below are three items you need to consider in preparing
your 1986 return:
• Housing Allowance Be sure to review your housing allowance to
be certain that what you have set aside is the appropriate
amount.
Any amount that has been set aside and not spent
during the year must be declared as income. On the other hand,
any amount spent but not previously set aside cannot now be
deducted. If you find yourself in this situation, you may want
to consider filing an updated Ministerial Housing Allowance
form.
• Monthly Expense Allotment When your monthly allotment check is
mailed, it is sent in advance of projected expenses. At the
end of the year, the total of all allotment checks will be
added to your W-2 form as income. Unless you can sufficiently
justify to the IRS the business expenses that match the expense
allotments you received, you will need to pay tax on the
allotments.
The allotment check is to be used only for Church business
expenses.
If you have received more expense money than you
actually spent, you should return the excess to the Church. If
you find that your allotment has exceeded your expense by a
large amount, you may need to consider reducing the allotment.
If you want to do this, please include a note to that effeet
with your reimbursement check.
• Second Tithe-Allotment
Any unused allotment should be
returned. Please make separate checks for second-tithe funds
and for the monthly allotment. Any reimbursement checks should
be sent to Church Administration � December 16 in order for
Accounting to have time to credit the amount to your W-2
statement. If checks are not received by December 16, your W-2
statement may not reflect the returned money, and you will have
to pay taxes on that amount. (You will need to estimate your
expense needs for the rest of the year to know how much to
return for the monthly allotment.)