The Office of Accounting is here to give advice and answer any questions you may have about church finances. Our office hours are Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
For any questions you may have, please email Becky White or Gretchen Cupp, or call 318.448.3402.
Common Questions:
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TAX and ACCOUNTING RESOURCES:
A good site for help on minister’s taxes is “Church & Clergy Tax Guide” www.churchlawtoday.com
- Guidestone, “Resources”, “Tax Tools” guidestone.org
- IRS irs.gov
- Social Security socialsecurity.gov and socialsecurity.gov/employer
- Louisiana Department of Revenue revenue.louisiana.gov
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If your church receives gifts designated to an individual you may want a tax professional. The IRS has very stringent rules regarding these types of gifts.
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We can provide our IRS 501(c) 3 group exemption number only to churches that are listed in the Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual. This number can be used to obtain nonprofit discounts at hotels, on nonprofit mailings and on donations. Please note that this number cannot be used to exempt your church from paying sales taxes. Please contact the LBC Accounting office at (318) 448-3402 for information about receiving information on our 501(c) 3 exemption status.
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Currently there is not a state sales tax exemption for Louisiana churches. You will need to check with your local parish and city to determine if your local government allows any sales tax exemption for churches.
R.S 47:301(8)(d) provided a sales tax exemption for Louisiana churches for the purchase of bibles, song books or literature for use in religious instruction classes. A preliminary injunction barring enforcement of this sales tax exemption for churches has been issued by the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, Inc. v, Bridges (No,. 04-3165, 04/17/2006). Because of this injunction churches in Louisiana must pay state sales and use tax on all purchases and may not present an exemption certificate in lieu of paying the tax. If and when the injunction is lifted, the sales tax exemption certificates will once again be valid.
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Your Cooperative Program gifts and other designation gifts must be sent to LBC by the last day of each month. If we receive your check after the end of the month then your designations will be applied to the following month. Please send designations to:
Louisiana Baptists
PO Box 311
Alexandria, LA 71309
Attention: Accounting DepartmentIf you have any questions, please contact Gretchen Cupp or Becky White.
We appreciate our Louisiana Baptist churches and are privileged to be able to assist you with information on your accounting and tax questions.
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