If you have not communicated to Reliant on your W4 that you are exempt from federal tax withholdings, due to Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or the Foreign Tax Credit, a large one-time payment on your paycheck will usually inflate your tax withholdings to a higher percentage than is usually withheld, affecting not just the Bonus, but your normal monthly salary. For example, if your normal salary is $3,000, and you submit an Bonus for $10,000, you could be taxed on that paycheck as if you earn $156,000/year (13,000x12). You may request a one-time adjustment to your withholdings to control the amount that is withheld. See the instructions below and please talk to a tax professional if you have questions about how much you should be withholding.

In the case that an employee wants to make a one-time Federal tax change to a certain paycheck (without making a permanent change to their federal withholdings), the employee may send an email to payroll@reliant.org before last day of any given month in order to affect the following month's paycheck. The email should be from the employee's @reliant.org email account and must clearly state how much money the employee would like withheld for the specific pay date. 

For example, an employee could send an email stating "From my XX/XX/XXXX (Month/Day/Year) paycheck, please withhold $X (specify the dollar amount) in Federal taxes". 

If you are unsure what is currently being withheld, please refer to your most recent paystub, which should have been emailed to your Reliant email address on payday.

Please keep in mind, even if you are exempt from federal income tax, you will still be required to pay Social Security (FICA) on any International Bonus. If you are not ordained, 7.65% will be paid from the MTD fund for the Employer Portion, in addition to the total amount of the bonus. 

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• Generally 2 months of salary, received on the 15th of the month before launching overseas
• Covers expenses such as apartment deposits, house furnishing, appliances, etc
• A second settling-in bonus may be submitted during the first year if needed

• If you move locations during your overseas assignment.
• Covers expenses such as apartment deposits, moving company fees, new furnishings, etc.
• Needs supervisor Approval

• Large one-time needs that are not included in your monthly salary
• Expense must be at least $500*
• Ex : Medical Deductible on a furlough year
• Ex : Local taxes paid annually in your host country**
• Ex : School fees for kids paid annually or bi-annually**
• Ex : If your visa requires a large amount of balance in your bank account.
• Needs supervisor Approval

*The provision for savings in your salary should be sufficient to cover expenses lower than $500. If this is not the case, please reach out about your current support goal.

**If an expense is already included in your monthly salary on your support goal worksheet, you may request a salary advance to make a large, up-front payment

Timing of Bonuses

All bonus requests must be sent to international@reliant.org by the 16th of the month to be processed on the following paycheck (example: submit to Reliant by May 16th to be paid the bonus on June 15 paycheck).

If the funding is needed prior to the next paycheck, the staff member may request a Payroll Advance that would be processed within 3-5 business days for a cost of $10 to the MTD account for which the missionary is responsible. The bonus request form must have already been sent to international@reliant.org and received approval prior to any payroll advances being approved for payment by the Employment Services department.

Supervisor Approval

• Moving bonuses require Supervisor approval 
• Vehicle bonuses require Supervisor approval *With vehicle bonuses, ask the supervisor to also confirm that they have briefed to missionary on safety and security best practices with driving and owning a vehicle in the country of service.  
• All other bonuses ONLY require Reliant Approval 

• For workers returning to the US permanently
• A month salary for every year on the field.
• Covers expenses related to settling back in the US

What type of Expense are you submitting? : All bonuses should fall into one of the categories mentioned. Select the one that describes your need.

Give any additional information about this expense : This is only required for Hardship Bonuses, but you are welcome to include any additional information that you think might be helpful for Reliant.

What amount do you need? : Enter the dollar amount that you are requesting. 

Additional Allowance for Social Security of FICA Bonus : This defaults yes. The amount is based on your previous selection of ordination status. You can see the amount to be added in the cell to the right.

• I am not ordained - An additional 7.65% will be added for the Employee portion of Social Security which will then be deducted from.your paycheck
• I am ordained and DO participate in Social Security - An additional 15.3% will be added as a FICA Bonus. Reliant will not deduct this amount from your paycheck. ,You are responsible to save and plan accordingly to cover these taxes at tax time. 
• I am ordained and have opted out of Social Security - Even if "yes" is selected, no additional allowance will be added.

Additional Allowance for Federal Income Tax : This defaults to 10%, but you are encouraged to think through your own federal tax obligations and change as necessary. For larger bonuses, you should consider how this will affect your annual taxes and may need or want to select a higher percentage. 

Do you need the money earlier? : Due to the extensive process for advancing funds, this option will only appear on the form where the bonuses is higher than 2,000. If you select "yes", you'll see some additional fields pop up at the bottom of the form.

Next Available Advance : We have a normal rhythm of processing advances on the last Friday of the month. That date will populate at the bottom. If you do need funds sooner than the next paycheck and the next advance date, share the form with international@reliant.org and let us know your need.

Advance Amount : This is only the bonus amount, without the additional amount for taxes. The full amount will still be on your next paycheck, but there will be an "After tax deduction" of the amount you were advanced, so that you are not paid twice.

For more information on Advances: See International Payroll Advances

International employees are allowed to request an advance where the repayment is extended over multiple month installments. On the form, you will request the number of months to spread out the installments. 

• Extended Advances must be a minimum of $1000 in order to be eligible to be paid out in monthly installments
• All Extended Advances must be approved by the Program Team before they can be processed

Total Amount (with taxes included) : The total bonus with additional amounts for Social Security and Federal Income Tax based on your selections

Paycheck Date : Your bonus will be added to this paycheck as taxable wages.

Supervisor Approval : Vehicle, Moving and Hardship Bonuses require Supervisor Approval. The form will only show this line if you have selected one of those options.

Reliant International Approval : All bonuses must be approved by the International Program Team.

Additional Director Approval : For bonuses above a certain amount, the International Team will get approval from a Director.

Who is eligible?

International Missionaries that have been Released to Assignment are eligible to request Financial Hardship bonuses, since they are paid a needs-based salary to cover their financial needs on the field. Examples of financial hardship bonus requests include paying for flights back to the US that are not reimbursable for personal reasons, property emergencies such as theft or loss, evacuations, visa/immigration issues out of the ordinary, locally-owed taxes that are higher than expected, etc.

Reliant encourages international missionaries to plan for needs in their monthly salary wherever possible.  Reliant missionaries need to be saving for the future from their salaries. Each international missionary's Support Goal Worksheet (SGW) sets the limits (or maximums) for the amount of salary they can request for discretionary categories like Food, Medical, Discretionary spending, etc. When the missionary has an unexpected hardship that fits one of the categories on the SGW, Reliant will work with the missionary to increase their monthly salary, seeking to avoid future hardships.

Does this bonus require supervisor approval?

You will need your supervisor's approval on Hardship bonuses over $500.00.

What if I'm not sure if my financial need is eligible for a Hardship Bonus?

If the international missionary has a financial need that they are not sure is eligible for a Financial Hardship bonus, Reliant encourages the missionary to email international@reliant.org with an explanation of the financial need and the circumstances surrounding it. At times, Reliant may approve a Financial Hardship bonus for a need that the missionary could have planned for in their SGW, with the condition that a new SGW is submitted including proactive changes to their budget in the category of need.