Is your homeschool co-op's hired teacher really an employee?

A homeschool nonprofit I work with called me quite frantic.  They had received a letter form the IRS.  It seems that a former teacher of one of their classes  was asking for an examination of her status as an independent contractor (using IRS Form SS-8).  She thought that she should be classified as an employee of this homeschool nonprofit.  If the IRS agrees with this worker, the homeschool organization may have to pay back taxes (Social Security and Medicare) and perhaps penalties.

Fortunately this homeschool group did many things right:

How about your homeschool group?  Would you pass an IRS examination?  Do your hired teachers sign an Independent Contractor agreement?  Do you avoid controlling their work as you might an employee?  Here’s a helpful brochure regarding employee or independent contractor status (IRS Pub 1779).

I’ve written about paying teachers in a homeschool co-op setting:

Paying teachers in a homeschool co-op

W-2 and tax filings for teachers

Carol Topp, CPA

Government Intrusion and 501c3 Tax Exempt Status

Michele in Colorado e-mailed me with an excellent question on government intrusion into 501c3 organizations:

Hi Carol,

I am part of a homeschool group in Canon City, CO.  We are trying to figure out what we are to do financially next year.  We do not have a non -profit status and most people in our group do not want to organize that much.  Some of the people in our group have had some experiences with 5013C status that the government has made them open their group up to individuals that they would not normally allow in their group because they are a government entity (like permitting someone not in our faith to teach a class).

Thank you so much for your help to the homeschool community and for whatever answers you can give us.

Sincerely,
Michelle P

Michelle,
Good for you in wanting to make sure that you are doing things properly in your homeschool group.

Your people are mistaken. Receiving 501c3 tax exempt status does NOT make your organization a government entity; it simply means that you are exempt from paying income tax on your profit and donors can make tax-deductible contributions.  It’s a tax status.  501c3 status does NOT mean you  must open up your group. No way!  We still have religious freedom in American and freedom to assemble.  Someone is greatly misinformed.  You are certainly free to choose your members and choose who teaches a class. Does a Catholic school have to allow non-Catholics teach their classes?  Of course not!

The Boy Scouts won a very important Supreme Court case in 2000 allowing them to exclude homos*xual men from being Boy Scout leaders. Read about it here. Your group is free to exclude certain people from membership. It’s a basic American right called freedom of assembly.

God Bless America!

Carol Topp, CPA

A Homeschool Leader Gathering

Do you ever wish that you could gather with other homeschool leaders just to receive encouragement, share resources or bend someone’s ear?

Last month, 12 homeschool leaders from seven different homeschool groups gathered on a cold winter night in Cincinnati, Ohio just to meet and support each other.

We had coffee, cookies and laughed, gently reproved and empathized with other leaders.

We came from a diverse background.  Some were experienced homeschoolers-one with 15 years of leadership under her belt! Others had only been leading their group for two weeks! We had unschoolers, classical schoolers, virtual schoolers and traditional homeschoolers (whatever that means!)

After we exchanged names and information on our groups, we listed what challenges we face as homeschool leaders.  Here’s what the leaders listed:

Any of these sound familiar? I think these are common problems.  Sometimes the other leaders had helpful answers and suggestions; sometimes they just offered sympathy and encouragement. Everyone needs someone who can say, “I understand.”

I shared some resources including:

• My website, HomeschoolCPA.com, for articles and ebooks on running a homeschool organization

• My book, Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out

• The Old Schoolhouse magazine’s Homeschool Leader Yahoo group, a wonderful place for homeschool leaders to pose questions and get answers from leaders across the country

• Homeschool Group Leader blog, run by my cyber friends, Kristen and Denise, full of tips, answers and encouragement.

I hope you find these resources helpful too.

Carol Topp, CPA

HomeschoolCPA.com

Any Tax Breaks for Homeschoolers?

Since tax season 2009 has officially launched, I’ll address a question I am frequently asked,

Do homeschoolers get any tax breaks for their homeschooling expenses? Can a homeschool family deduct any of their homeschool expenses?

The simple answer is “No; there are no tax credits for homeschool expenses from the federal government.”

The longer answer is “Maybe, depending on what state you live in.”

Several states have an educational tax credit. Iowa, Arizona, Minnesota and Illinois all have some sort of  tax break for individuals. The credit is available to any public or private school student, so it is not unique to homeschoolers. Florida and Pennsylvania offer businesses tax credits if they sponsor a scholarship.

This document has a chart of education tax credits and deductions by state (updated November 2008). Scroll to page 6 to see the chart.

http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/feelaw.pdf

Home School Legal Defense Association has an explanation of some states’ tax breaks or credits:

http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200504150.asp

Homeschoolers can get creative and think perhaps they can start a business or a nonprofit organization of their homeschool activities and then deduct their expenses.  Ann Zeise of A to Z Home’s Cool addresses these ideas:

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/031401.htm

You cannot contribute to your own child’s K12 education and get any tax deduction for it, no more than if you sent him to a private school and tried to write off the tuition.

Carol Topp, CPA

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How do homeschool groups identify their status as a public charity?

Hello Carol

I am working with Crossroads Christian Connection in MO. We need to complete our 1023 (Note: He means IRS Form 1023 Application for 501 Tax Exempt Status) . The question I have is on Part X Public Charity Status. We are a small homeschooling group of about 45 families with revenue of less then $5,000 per year, on line 5, I need to know how home-school groups identify their status as a public charity.

Do you have samples of other groups that have filed the 1023?

Thanks

Greg S

Is it a homeschool co-op or Mary Poppins?

I started my website HomeschoolCPA to help homeschool organizations, but sometimes the lines between a family homeschool and a homeschool organization get a little fuzzy. Here’s one example of the new and creative ways the people are homeschooling today.

I am considering starting a homeschool with a group of 5 children. They are all from different families and none of them is my own. I have a Masters degree in education and am comfortable working as an independent contractor. I plan on teaching these children in one of the boy’s home with the parents’ blessing. Is this legal? What do I need to do to set it up? Would the parents need to set up a homeschool co-op? I am having difficulty finding information about this for Maryland. Thanks for your help!

Mrs. A in Maryland

Dear Mrs A,

Congratulations on your new venture. Teaching other people’s children is certainly a legitimate business. You will be a modern day governess. (like Mary Poppins!)

I do not believe the parents need to set up a homeschool co-op. But you need to set up a small business. I recommend these steps:

* Pick a business name, although you can use your own name

* Consider opening a business checking account to keep your business and personal expenses separate (it helps at tax time)

* Have a written agreement with the parents about your duties and your fees (i.e. how much and when will you be paid)

* Keep good records of all our expenses, especially mileage. Read my Small Business Start-up Guide available to download here: Small Business Start Up Guide

* Set aside 20-30% of your income after expenses (i.e. 20-30% of your profit) to pay income tax and self employment tax. You will probably also need to make quarterly estimates payments to the IRS. Here’s a great blog to help you learn more about being self-employed. http://junewalkeronline.blogspot.com/

I’m not familiar with Maryland’s homeschooling laws, but here in Ohio we must notify if someone other than the parent does a majority of the instruction. Maryland may have a similar notification rule. You might want to do a little digging on-line and ask the families that are hiring you about Maryland’s homeschooling laws.

Best of success to you!

Carol Topp, CPA

Group over the $5K limit. What to do?

Hi Carol,

I’m part of a homeschool organization that is considered an Unincorporated Non-Profit Association in the state of TX which by Texas law can not take in more than $5000. What should we do?

Thank you,

Sandy in TX

Dear Sandy,

I visited the State of Texas website to read about the Unincorporated Non-Profit Association laws. I could not find any restriction on the amount of money your organization can make.

I think I understand where you got the $5,000 threshold. The IRS does state in the instructions to Form 1023 (Application for Recognition of Exemption under 501c3) that:

The following organizations are excepted from the exemption application requirement: Churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches; and an organization that is not a private foundation and the gross receipts of which in each taxable year are normally not more than $5,000.

So as long as your organization stays very small, you are tax exempt. If you make more than $5,000 gross revenues in a year, you need to file the Form 1023 to remain tax exempt with the IRS. So this is really an IRS/federal tax requirement, not a Texas requirement.

So you have several years over the $5,000 threshold. Your group has three choices:

1. file the 1023 and become tax exempt
2. pay taxes
3. restructure your groups to stay under the $5,000 income limit.

Any of the options are workable. There are costs and benefits to all three options. Without knowing a lot more about your group, I cannot tell you which option is best for you.

Your group is not unique. Like many homeschool groups, you are finding that your organization is growing and doing more for homeschooling families. That’s wonderful, but then you can run into road blocks like the $5,000 income limits.

Carol Topp, CPA