Page History
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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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Submission
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Ministry Expense Bonus
Reliant provides an optional monthly taxable Ministry Expense (ME) bonus for all paid employees to help cover routine recurring monthly expenses associated with the ministry. Full-time employees are eligible for requests up to $500/month. Part-time employees (20 hours or less) are eligible for requests up to $200/month. The bonus request is submitted through employee support goals. 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. (See Ministry Expense Bonuses for more details.)
The ME bonus accounts for the following recurring monthly expenses along with other routine monthly expenses particular to the individual Reliant field staff and their specific ministry 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 (normal commutes for local ministry)
- HSA employee contribution (if you are benefits-eligible and are currently on Reliant's medical insurance plan)
| Warning |
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Monthly phone plan costs are calculated separately on the employee support goal to be entered as non-taxable and should not be included in the total amount requested for the ME bonus. |
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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.
- 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 are not eligible to submit a request for an ERB. A 25% bonus for estimated taxes will be automatically added to all ERB submissions to account for the estimated taxes associated with this taxable bonus. Employees that wish to opt-out of including the bonus for estimated taxes will need to select the box on the form that says "only reimburse the core expenses and not the estimated taxes associated with this 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: Field staff may request per diem while traveling opting to receive a daily set amount for travel expenses (lodging and meals) instead of submitting individual expense receipts for those expenses.
- Grant: For expenses related directly to a ministry project fund, field staffs and associates also have the option of requesting payment through a "Grant" rather than a project fund Reimbursement. (See Reimbursements vs. Grants for more details.) Grants are also often used for the expense of an item that will belong to the broader ministry/project on a long-term basis. There are no taxable implications on the individual submitting a recovery for a project expense through the grant process
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Key Change to the Standard: Previously the ME bonus was broken down into individual expense category max amounts to help determine the appropriate total amount to receive per month. Reliant is now asking the field staff to determine the appropriate amount (up to a specific designated total amount based on their employment type) based on the needs of the individual field staff. |
Monthly Phone Reimbursement
Employees are also given the option to request monthly phone plan reimbursement through a submission request within the employee support goal. Expenses are paid out through a non-taxable monthly recurring payment into the account for which the staff is responsible. Reliant does not need receipts submitted for phone plan payment amounts. Employees will request the appropriate amount needed per month (up to the designated amount for full-time/part-time employees) based on the monthly expenses incurred with their individual phone plans. Full-time employees are eligible for requests up to $100/month. Part-time employees (20 hours or less) are eligible for requests up to $50/month. Associates are not eligible for the monthly phone reimbursement.
| Note |
|---|
Key Change to the Standard: In order to have fewer reimbursements considered as taxable wages, Reliant has removed the monthly phone bill expense category from the taxable ME bonus. Paid employees may now submit a one-time Monthly Phone Reimbursement request through their support goal to recover monthly phone payments through a non-taxable monthly reimbursement. |
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.
- 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 are not eligible to submit a request for an ERB. A 25% bonus for estimated taxes will be automatically added to all ERB submissions to account for the estimated taxes associated with this taxable bonus. Employees that wish to opt-out of including the bonus for estimated taxes will need to select the box on the form that says "only reimburse the core expenses and not the estimated taxes associated with this 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: Field staff may request per diem while traveling opting to receive a daily set amount for travel expenses (lodging and meals) instead of submitting individual expense receipts for those expenses.
- Grant: For expenses related directly to a ministry project fund, field staffs and associates also have the option of requesting payment through a "Grant" rather than a project fund Reimbursement. (See Reimbursements vs. Grants for more details.) Grants are also often used for the expense of an item that will belong to the broader ministry/project on a long-term basis. There are no taxable implications on the individual submitting a recovery for a project expense through the grant process.
Expense Recovery Bonus (ERB) is the new term for what was formerly known as a taxable reimbursement. |
Expense Recovery through Support Goal Submission
Ministry Expense Bonus
Reliant provides an optional monthly taxable Ministry Expense (ME) bonus for all paid employees to help cover routine recurring monthly expenses associated with the ministry. Full-time employees are eligible for requests up to $500/month. Part-time employees (20 hours or less) are eligible for requests up to $200/month. The bonus request is submitted through employee support goals. 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. (See Ministry Expense Bonuses for more details.)
The ME bonus accounts for the following recurring monthly expenses along with other routine monthly expenses particular to the individual Reliant field staff and their specific ministry 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 (normal commutes for local ministry)
- HSA employee contribution (if you are benefits-eligible and are currently on Reliant's medical insurance plan)
| Warning |
|---|
Monthly phone plan costs are calculated separately on the employee support goal to be entered as non-taxable and should not be included in the total amount requested for the ME bonus. |
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.
| Note |
|---|
Key Change to the Standard: Previously the ME bonus was broken down into individual expense category max amounts to help determine the appropriate total amount to receive per month. Reliant is now asking the field staff to determine the appropriate amount (up to a specific designated total amount based on their employment type) based on the needs of the individual field staff. |
Monthly Phone Reimbursement
Employees are also given the option to request monthly phone plan reimbursement through a submission request within the employee support goal. Expenses are paid out through a non-taxable monthly recurring payment into the account for which the staff is responsible. Reliant does not need receipts submitted for phone plan payment amounts. Employees will request the appropriate amount needed per month (up to the designated amount for full-time/part-time employees) based on the monthly expenses incurred with their individual phone plans. Full-time employees are eligible for requests up to $100/month. Part-time employees (20 hours or less) are eligible for requests up to $50/month. Associates are not eligible for the monthly phone reimbursement.
| Note |
|---|
Key Change to the Standard: In order to have fewer reimbursements considered as taxable wages, Reliant has removed the monthly phone bill expense category from the taxable ME bonus. Paid employees may now submit a one-time Monthly Phone Reimbursement request through their support goal to recover monthly phone payments through a non-taxable monthly reimbursement. |
| Note |
Key Change to the Standard: Expense Recovery Bonus (ERB) is the new term for what was formerly known as a taxable reimbursement. |
Relevant Forms
All expense submissions should use the appropriate form, each of which is listed below with accessible links. Please open a brand new form for each month's expense submission (rather than copying a form that has previously been submitted) in order to ensure the use of updated forms and to aid accurate and timely expense processing.
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