![]() ![]() Abate the pastor's weekly paycheck until the pastor decided it was time to start again Ģ. The pastor agreed with the suggestion and so the board unanimously voted and documented in its minutes to do three things:ġ. Finally, after realizing that their pastor could not be swayed otherwise, one of the board members suggested, "Why don't we suspend his salary temporarily, with the following terms: at any point that he feels the church can satisfactorily afford it, he can notify the church secretary and restart his salary? And any amount that he does not receive this year can simply be pushed forward so that he can receive it in the future, as soon as the church can manage to pay it." How a good-hearted decision can still have bad consequences With genuine concern for their pastor's well being, the board members made every attempt to convince him to continue receiving his salary, but their efforts proved futile. ![]() His relationship with the board of directors was stellar. As a result, in order for the seven-year old church to survive, the pastor chose to forego receiving a salary until such time as the church would be able to afford paying him again, without injury. With the downturn in the economy, a larger-than-usual number of the church members was either unemployed or under employed. The pastor of a 200-member church made the difficult decision to tell his board of directors to no longer pay the $75,000.00 salary it had agreed to pay him. The IRS' tax assessment against the pastor lies in the way the board secretary documented the minutes of the board meeting in its corporate records book. Does that sound unreasonable and unjust? Not according to the legal definition of income when the Constructive Receipt Doctrine is applied. Now imagine the IRS auditing his tax return and telling him that though the church did not pay his salary, he still has to report the full amount and pay taxes on it. His sacrificial leadership begs the respect of all in the room, and demonstrates the nature of a true shepherd. Imagine with me for a moment the moving scenario where a church pastor tells his board of directors to no longer pay his salary so that the church can make it through a downturn in the economy. ![]() Pastor Ordered to Pay Taxes on Salary He Never Received By Raul Rivera ![]()
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