Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Hey Fletch! First off, thank you so much for bringing such an informative and fun workshop to Hawaii. It was such a pleasure to see you and we look forward to next time! We have missionaries that are Deputized fund raisers and are providing them with mileage. Is that considered taxable income for them? Is that something we are allowed to do? And if so, is there a way for us to do this legally and ethically? We’d love to hear your suggestions. Thank you.
DRF—We had a marvelous time with the Hawaiian church and look forward to seeing you again! Now to your question.
If the missionaries are on your payroll in any fashion, then they are your employees. You have two options for employees:
Use an accountable plan for reimbursing actual miles driven. Each person much keep a log. IRS Publication 463 gives this example of a worksheet which can be used as an acceptable log: Date; Destination—City, Town, or Area, Business Purpose; Odometer Readings—Start Stop this trip; Miles. These logs should be turned in regularly, monthly is best, and the individual is reimbursed. The IRS acceptable rates for 2018 were 54.5 cents per mile and for 2019 it is 58 cents per mile.
If you don’t use an accountable plan with a log, then the income would be taxable to your employees.
