If you're a pastor or church leader, as you consider sending your own to the field, you may be pondering the following questions: What is the best way to receive and receipt the funds that come in for them? What about the proper way to report the funds that are distributed to them? What IRS status should a missionary be placed in… is it 1099 (self employed) or W-2 (employee)? It is our conviction that based on the following facts, missionaries should be in W2 status with the IRS: It is by far the least burdensome for the missionary. Trying to pay quarterly self-employment taxes (Social Security and Medicare) required by 1099 status when you are in a foreign country is incredibly difficult. W-2 status decreases significantly the possibility of being audited by the IRS. Other major, well established missions organizations such as Wycliffe, New Tribes, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Pioneers, Frontiers, and most of the other major missions organizations have their missionaries in employee, or W-2 status. If you’d like to take the steps necessary to have your missionary become a W-2 employee of your church, we’re here to help. If you recognize that doing so is a little more than you, your staff, or your administrative infrastructure can handle, then Shepherd’s Staff may be a viable option. We currently perform this service for more than 70 Calvary Chapel missionaries on behalf of their senior pastors and home churches.
