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 Note: Reliant reserves the right to determine whether or not an expense fulfills the above criteria and to decline reimbursement of expenses that do not meet the criteria. 

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Ministry Expense Bonus

Reliant provides an optional monthly taxable Ministry Expense (ME) bonus for paid employees to help cover routine recurring monthly expenses associated with the ministry. Full-time employees are eligible for requesting up to $500/month. Part-time employees (20 hours or less) are eligible for requesting up to $200/month. Due to the taxable nature of the ME bonus, associates are not allowed to request this bonus. Paid employees that opt out of a monthly ME bonus are not eligible to submit these expenses through any other submission types.

The ME bonus accounts for the following recurring monthly expenses along with other routine monthly expenses particular to the individual Reliant field staff to be recovered through a recurring bonus rather than through a monthly reimbursement submission.

These expenses include: 

• Meals with coworkers
• Gifts for coworkers and ministry contacts
• Monthly internet costs
• Local mileage (definition?)
• HSA employee contribution

The above expenses are designated for recovery solely through the ME Bonus and are not eligible to be submitted for reimbursement through any other submission types. Reliant does not need receipts submitted for expenses included in the ME bonus. Field staff may set the amount that they think is appropriate to cover their typically incurred monthly expenses (up to the designated amount for full-time/part-time employees). Beyond this, if there are unique one-time expenses that clearly significantly exceed what each staff deems normal recurring expenses then they have the option to submit the following expense request types below. 

Submission Request Types

Payment of a ministry expense may be done through the following four types of submission requests:

• Reimbursement: Submission of expenses that qualify under IRS guidance as non-taxable reimbursed business expenses is referred to as a “Reimbursement.” Please note that, although Reliant Reimbursements are processed in such a way that they are not included in the employee's taxable income, the employee bears ultimate responsibility for her/his income tax return(s), including the proper tax treatment of all payments received from Reliant, and should consult with her/his tax adviser as needed to determine the appropriate reporting and treatment of such payments.
• Monthly Phone Reimbursement:
• Expense Recovery Bonus: Submissions requesting recovery of expenses that do not qualify for non-taxable reimbursement under the IRS guidance are referred to as “Expense Recovery Bonus”or ERB. ERB payments take the form of a bonus which will be treated as additional taxable wages (compensation) for the field staff. Due to the fact that only paid employees can receive a taxable bonus, associates and project funds? are not eligible to submit a request for an ERB. Add 20% bonus.
• Expense Advance: Field staff may request advance payment for anticipated reimbursable expenses through an "Expense Advance." Advances are not available in all cases but will be considered for approval on a case-by-case basis.
• Per Diem:
• Grant: For expenses related to a ministry project fund, field staff also have the option of requesting payment through a "Grant" rather than a Reimbursement. Grants are often used for the expense of an item that will belong to the broader ministry/project (rather than the individual) on a long-term basis. (See Reimbursements vs. Grants for more details)

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