Understanding Taxes for a small homeschool business

03/30/2017 by Leave a Comment

It’s tax season and I’ve been getting several emails from homeschool business owners, especially Classical Conversations directors, about how to fill out their tax returns.

The IRS has a terrific website called Understanding Taxes that explains how to fill out a simple business tax return.

It’s quite good. I’ve used their simulations when I taught personal finance at my homeschool co-op

Visit these websites to learn how to fill out your Schedule C Business Income and Loss.

Understanding Taxes home page

Simulation of filing a simple business tax return using Schedule C-EZ

Simulation of filing a simple business tax return with a 1099-MISC (this simulation would be helpful for a Classical Conversation tutor who receives a 1099-MISC).

 

You could also try searching Youtube for helpful videos on preparing a business tax return. Here’s one I found:
How to Fill Out Schedule C for Business Taxes He goes over the Schedule C line by line in about 20 minutes.

 

I hope that helps,

Carol Topp, CPA

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Tax return for a Classical Conversations homeschool business

03/16/2017 by 2 Comments

We are a new Classical Conversations community set up as a single member LLC. We only had 2 students and so my tutor’s income was below the requirement for filing 1099s. Same for me. However, I saw that I shouldn’t be filing a 1099-MISC for myself. What should I be doing?

And what is considered profit for a CC community?

Esther

 

Thank you for emailing me your question about taxes and your Classical Conversations (CC) business.

As a single member LLC, you are a sole proprietorship and you report your income and expenses from your CC business on a Schedule C Profit or Loss from Business as part of your Form 1040.

All your income from the tuition and fees charged to your customers (i.e. parents) goes on line 1 Gross receipts or sales. In this example the total income is $4,500.

Your payment to your teacher(s) goes on Line 11 Contract Labor.  In this example a total of $2,250 was paid to independent contractors. Other expenses go in the categories listed in Part II of the Schedule C. Other expenses made the total expenses sum to $2,982 as shown on Line 28.

The profit is shown on Line 31. It is calculated  from Gross Income (Line 7 on the form) minus Expenses (Line 28). The profit is what you get to keep (and pay taxes on!) as the business owner. In this example the profit is $1,518. This amount will carried forward to the first page of the Form 1040 to Line 12 Business income or loss.

This Youtube video may help: https://youtu.be/qd5etmtyn9s It’s not specific to homeschooling businesses or Classical Conversations, but it goes over the Schedule C line-by-line in about 20 minutes.

P.S. I am no longer taxing new tax clients, so I recommend you find a local CPA to help you in preparing your tax return. To find a local CPA or accountant I recommend you try Dave Ramsey’s Endorsed Local Providers and Quickbooks Proadvisors. A lot of CPAs and accountants listed on these sites specialize in small businesses.

Carol Topp, CPA
HomeschoolCPA.com
Helping homeschool leaders

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What tax forms does a homeschool co-op teacher file?

02/07/2017 by 1 Comment
Hi Carol.
Thank you for all the help you have already given our homeschool community!
There is a homeschool co-op that allows teachers to charge the parents $0-$45 per student.  As a teacher, how would I report any net income on my income tax return? Payments are made directly to me, the teacher.

Best regards,

Lynn (New York)

 

 

Lynn,

You report all your income and expenses on a Schedule C or the shorter form Schedule C-EZ as part of your federal form 1040.

The net amount (Income less all your business expenses) is carried onto page one of your 1040 and added to your other income  from W-2s etc.

If you made more than $400 in net income (your income less any expenses) in the year, you will also have to fill in a Schedule SE and pay Self-employment tax (it’s Social Security and Medicare taxes for self-employed people).

Hope that helps!

Carol Topp, CPA

Homeschool leaders: If you hired and paid a teacher in the past year you may need to file some paperwork with the IRS! The deadline is January 31 to give your workers a 1099-MISC or W-2.

Find out what to do in my book Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization.

 

 

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Are violin lessons and ballet classes tax deductions?

01/31/2017 by Leave a Comment

Hi Carol, I just discovered your great website.
I pay several people for private instruction for my child: violin lessons by a private teacher, gymnastics, ballet in a nonprofit ballet school.
Can I send a 1099-MISC to any of these people or organizations?
I’d like to keep my tax liability as low as possible.
Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Kimberly

Kimberly,

The Form 1099-MISC is to be given to a person who provide services to your trade or business. You do not give 1099-MISC to people you hire for your personal expenses (violin lessons for your children, etc).

Here’s what the IRS website says:

  • Report payments made in the course of a trade or business to a person who is not an employee or to an unincorporated business. (my emphasis added)
  • Report payments of $10 or more in gross royalties or $600 or more in rents or compensation. Report payment information to the IRS and the person or business that received the payment.

Your personal expenses (violin lessons, gymnastics, ballet) are not tax deductible expenses.

I hope that helps,

Carol Topp, CPA
HomeschoolCPA.com

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I’m a Classical Conversations Director. Do I have to file any forms with the IRS?

01/19/2017 by 5 Comments

On April 15 last year (you know, that day the personal tax returns are due!), I received this email:

I need to be sure I don’t have any tax forms to file with IRS. This was our first year as a CC community, with only 2 tutors and 12 children.
-Name withheld to protect the guilty

 

Just as aside before I answer her question: This CC Director treated her tutors as independent contractors all year long. That may or may not have been the proper worker classification for them. She may have exerted enough control over the tutors that they should have been treated as employees, but I did not address that issue with her. At this point, what the director did in the past with regard to paying her tutors is done; it cannot be changed now. I addressed what she needs to do now to properly file her taxes.

Dear Name withheld,

As a Classical Conversations (CC) director, you are a small business owner.

You should have given your tutors a Form 1099-MISC to report the income you paid them (assuming you classified them as independent contractors). The Form 1099-MISC is to be given to each tutor by January 31 each year for the income paid in the prior year. A copy is also sent to the IRS. It sounds like you missed that deadline.

By the way, you cannot simply print the Form 1099-MISC from the IRS website. You must order forms from the IRS, purchase them at an office supply store, or use an online filing program like Yearli.com (that’s the service I’ve used to file my 1099-MISC).

You should also have reported your income and expenses from your CC business on your personal income tax return, using Form 1040 Schedule C Profit or Loss from Business.

If you had a profit of more than $400 for the year, you will also owe Self-Employment Tax. It is calculated on Form 1040 Schedule SE.

I’m afraid you are very late in filing these forms! You may owe a penalty for late filing your 1099-MISC forms. You may need to file an amended federal income tax return (Form 1040X)  if you failed to include your CC income and expenses. You may also need to amend your state income tax return.

I strongly recommend that you contact a local CPA to discuss amending your  federal and state income tax returns.

You may also need to address if independent contractor status is the proper classification for your tutors. My book Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization can help you determine the best classification for your workers.

Carol Topp, CPA

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Compensation to homeschool board members is taxable income

11/08/2016 by Leave a Comment

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This is an excerpt from my new book, Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization-2nd edition.

Compensation to board members is taxable income

I was recently reviewing the bylaws for a homeschool organization that stated,

Members of the Board of Directors may receive reasonable compensation for their services and may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the maintenance of their duties.

A homeschool organization can compensate your board for their service, but compensation to board members is taxable income. If the board member is an officer (chair, vice chair, secretary, or treasurer) they must be paid as employees. Other board members who are not officers can be paid as independent contractors and given a Form 1099-MISC.

Did you catch that? If officers are compensated, the IRS laws* say they must be paid as employees. That means creating paychecks, paying payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), preparing W-2s and quarterly filings with the IRS and your state, and may mean unemployment and workers compensation taxes too!

Does your homeschool group really want to deal with payroll? It can become an excessive burden on a treasurer or expensive if your organization hires a bookkeeper or payroll service. If you do choose to compensate your board members, I highly recommend using a payroll service.

*“Exempt Organizations: Compensation of Officers” https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organizations-compensation-of-officers

I spent at lot of time doing research on this book so that homeschool leaders will know if they are paying their volunteers, board members, and workers legally and correctly.

I hope the book is helpful and lets you sleep at night not worrying about an IRS audit of your worker classification.

Carol Topp, CPA

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Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization-2nd edition

$9.95 paperback
130 pages
Copyright 2017
ISBN 978-0-9909579-3-5

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Can a homeschool group pay a volunteer?

11/03/2016 by Leave a Comment

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This is an excerpt from my update book, Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization

“Can we pay our homeschool co-op director? She works so hard.”

Yes, your homeschool organization can pay someone who works for the organization, but the pay must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The reporting responsibility will be on both the homeschool organization and the worker. Additionally, the organization will have to determine of the worker is an employee or an independent contractor. Other chapters in this book explain the required reporting and worker classification.

Instead of paying a worker, your homeschool organization can show appreciation to a volunteer in a variety of ways, but they may have tax consequences such as:

  • Reduced fees or tuition. Reduced tuition for classes or for a homeschool co-op fee is a nontaxable fringe benefit if it is insignificant (more on that in the book). If the tuition reduction is significant the value of the tuition is taxable income to the volunteer.
  • Gift cards, but they could be taxable income to the recipient if the cards are a replacement for payment for services and not a true gift.
  • Non-cash gifts such as flowers, books, a coffee mug or chocolate are excellent ways to express appreciation and are tax-free to the volunteer.

I’ll discuss each of these types of compensation (reduced fees, gift cards and non-cash gifts) to a volunteer in detail … (you’ll need to buy the book to read the details!)

Carol Topp, CPA

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Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization-2nd edition

$9.95 paperback
130 pages
Copyright 2017
ISBN 978-0-9909579-3-5

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Co-op collects money to send leader to a homeschool convention

10/24/2016 by Leave a Comment
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Hi Carol,
My homeschool group’s Board of Directors recently took up a collection from our members as a way of presenting me with an end-of-year gift of appreciation.  This was a complete surprise to me, especially when they presented me with a check totaling over $700!

The Board collected donations from individual members and then wrote me a check on the group account.  I’m unsure of how to deal with this tax-wise. The gift was given with the intent of paying my expenses for our state’s homeschool convention, including the leadership conference. If I returned the check and used the group’s debit card to pay my hotel expenses, would this alleviate the taxes?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.  I want to make this as easy as possible for group record keeping, and I’m not sure if this is the correct way to go about it.

Blessings,
Barbie T, Florida

Barbie,

I’m glad my website and books have been helpful.  You sound as if you have a great group and I’m sure they appreciate you!

Gift or taxable compensation?

It is sometimes difficult to tell if cash is a gift or a payment for services. The difficulty in determining if payment to a worker is a gift or compensation is that you need to determine the intent of the donor. The IRS has a very difficult time determining intent or expectations. We, on the other hand, can usually determine if a payment is a gift because we know the donor and their expectations.

It sounds as if the co-op was collecting money to defray the expense of sending you to a homeschool convention. It is taxable income to you with expectation that you will “earn” it by going to the convention (and learning a lot!).

If you use the payment on co-op related expenses (like the convention), then you could claim those expenses on your tax return. At the end of the year you  should report the $700 as income on your tax return and and then report expenses like the convention fee, mileage and hotel costs as deductions. You may break even or show a small profit.

A better way

In retrospect, it would have been better if the board had collected the monies and then gave you a nice note saying that you won an all expenses paid trip to the convention and used the co-op’s debit card to pay the expenses. These expenses would not be considered taxable income to you since the money never came to you. And the convention is to develop your leadership skills, not for your personal pleasure (although you may enjoy it!).

Carol Topp, CPA

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Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization-2nd edition

$9.95 paperback
130 pages
Copyright 2017
ISBN 978-0-9909579-3-5

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Are discounts to homeschool board members taxable compensation?

09/27/2016 by 2 Comments

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My homeschool group gives a fee waiver of our dues to our board officers. Would that discount be reported to our officers as taxable compensation?

Melissa

 

Melissa,

This is an excellent question because I’ve encouraged homeschool groups to offer discounts on membership fees to their volunteers or board members as a way to show appreciation.

The IRS defines compensation as:

compensation includes salary or wages, deferred compensation, retirement benefits…, fringe benefits (personal vehicle, meals, lodging, personal and family educational benefits, low interest loans, payment of personal travel, entertainment, or other expenses, athletic or country club membership, and personal use of your property), and bonuses.[i]  (emphasis added)

[i] Instructions for Form 1023 https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1023/ch02.html#d0e1909

 So, free or reduced fees that are educational benefits is taxable compensation to your board members.

So here’s my advice:

  • Keep your fee waivers to board members small and insignificant. The IRS does state that insignificant benefits to volunteers is not taxable income.
    • I can help you determine if your fee waivers or discounts are “insignificant.” Just contact me.
  • Consider showing appreciation with noncash gifts such as food, chocolate, or flowers. Buy resources to make their jobs easier including helpful books, hiring a payroll company (your treasurer will love it!), accounting software, etc.
  • Have the amount of fee waivers decided by a separate, independent committee or put it to the vote of the full membership. The board should not vote themselves a fee waiver. It’s a conflict of interest.
  • Add a provision to your bylaws allowing a small fee waiver (or tuition discount) to board members or other volunteers. Consider granting a percentage discount instead of a dollar amount such as 20% off the fee.

 

Have more questions about compensation to board members in your homeschool organization?

payingworkerscoveroutlined

Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization-2nd edition

$9.95 paperback
130 pages
Copyright 2017
ISBN 978-0-9909579-3-5

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Carol Topp, CPA

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Can I avoid the expense of hiring employees by being a 501c3?

09/06/2016 by Leave a Comment

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I run a homeschool tutorial in Texas as my small business. My tutors should be classified as employees according to the IRS rules. Due to the expenses and paperwork involved with hiring employees, I would like to set up a 501(C)(3).

I would like to hire you to help me with the process of setting up our local group as a 501(c)(3). Can you help me begin the process of setting up as a 501(c)(3)?

B in Texas

Dear B,
You should understand that having 501(c)(3) tax exempt status does NOT change the employer or payroll taxes you would have to pay.

501(c)(3) tax exempt status only grants nonprofit organizations tax exemption from federal income tax, not the payroll taxes. In other words, nonprofit tax exempt organizations still have to pay payroll taxes such as SS/Medicare, workers comp, unemployment insurance premiums.

Additionally, forming your business as a nonprofit organization means that you are no longer in control of the organization, nor does the money belong to you. The organization must be run by a board. The board can hire you as an employee, but they can also fire you.

Because you are converting a for-profit business to a nonprofit organization, you are not eligible to use the IRS’s short online Form 1023-EZ application form. Instead you will have to use the longer Form 1023 to apply for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

So you need to carefully consider your motives in forming a nonprofit, tax exempt organization. It should be done for reasons other than the expense and paperwork of hiring employees, because that burden will still exist as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization.

Need help understanding the rules regarding paying workers in your homeschool organization? My book Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization will explain the difference between employees and Independent Contractors and the necessary forms to file.

Carol Topp, CPA

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