# Plowing for a Church for free; anyone?



## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

Does anyone in here plow for their/or a church and does not charge for it?

If you do, can / or do you use it as a tax write off?

If so, how?


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

I had a friend who plowed his church for a few seasons, not as a tax write off but I think as Pennants. Worked well until one morning a elderly parishioner slid into his truck and he ended up paying for the damage. Cured him of "free" mentality.


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## deicepro (Mar 24, 2009)

I do my church for free, only takes 2 hours of my time, I invoice them for it and tell them to not pay me, then I write it off as a bad debt.


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## slongfellowii (Dec 29, 2004)

deicepro;1214733 said:


> I do my church for free, only takes 2 hours of my time, I invoice them for it and tell them to not pay me, then I write it off as a bad debt.


Why not just tithe it back instead of bad debt. Bad debt just sounds bad. Remember a church still has to file as a non-profit, so bills are not necessarily bad for them.


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## yard5864 (Nov 8, 2007)

I plow my church and write it off. I just submit my bill for it, and they give me a donation form back for the amount of the invoice.


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## cjasonbr (Nov 18, 2005)

Nothing in life is free.

What you meant to ask is:

_Should i pay the expenses of plowing the churches lot?_

gas, insurance, wear and tear, etc. It all adds up and costs somebody.

On a side note, my grandmother (who's like 95) called me the other day to tell me that she was out of cigarettes and she prayed for cigarettes that night. When she woke up the next day she found 3 or 4 packs. God had blessed her with cigarettes.

Maybe God will bring you cigarettes too :\


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## k5PlowGuy (Feb 4, 2009)

You are not supposed to claim services provided as a donation deduction. You are only supposed to claim the property you yourself used providing that service for charity, such as salt, sand, etc.


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

cjasonbr;1214750 said:


> Nothing in life is free.
> 
> What you meant to ask is:
> 
> ...


 Not sure I understand what your grandma praying for cigs has to do with the OP's questions?

As for the OP, unless your talking large sums of money....I would assume the amount of money involved with plowing your church is small potatoes in the big scheme of things(correct me if I'm wrong).?.?....With that said, if your donating your services, just do it and who cares about writing it off. More of an act of selflessness imo. Good luck.

and as someone else mentioned, those expenses get absorb through your biz anyway.


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## Dr Who (Dec 16, 2010)

JayD2;1214714 said:


> Does anyone in here plow for their/or a church and does not charge for it?
> 
> If you do, can / or do you use it as a tax write off?
> 
> If so, how?


If you feel like you should do it for free, then do it.
if you fell like you much charge them, then charge them.

talk to your tax man to see if you can write it off or not..


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## PTSolutions (Dec 8, 2007)

exactly, as a cash basis tax filing, you cant donate "services" as there was no exchange of money.

for our church, we get paid but then it gets donated back as tithing. same with lawn care services.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

snocrete;1214797 said:


> Not sure I understand what your grandma praying for cigs has to do with the OP's questions?
> 
> As for the OP, unless your talking large sums of money....I would assume the amount of money involved with plowing your church is small potatoes in the big scheme of things(correct me if I'm wrong).?.?....With that said, if your donating your services, just do it and who cares about writing it off. More of an act of selflessness imo. Good luck.
> 
> and as someone else mentioned, those expenses get absorb through your biz anyway.


Well, more than anything, I do the mowing all year and yes, I do it for them because I have the equipment and a business but it saves them money. I just do a little of the snow, we don't get much. Its not that I would not do it if I cant claim it, I have been doing it for four years now. It's not like I'm trying to hurt the church, its just that if the IRS allows me to claim it, then I would like to take them up on it.....I don't think that makes me as you put it "selflessness". I give plenty of money and time to the church.

The point is.......If I can claim it as a donation or what ever and have the IRS blessing, then why not...

That's what my question was really for anyway.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

yard5864;1214747 said:


> I plow my church and write it off. I just submit my bill for it, and they give me a donation form back for the amount of the invoice.


yeah, whats wrong with doing this? I think It sounds fair, but I want to know if the IRS does..


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## CGM Inc. (Dec 15, 2008)

below lowballing....


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

JayD2;1214849 said:


> Well, more than anything, I do the mowing all year and yes, I do it for them because I have the equipment and a business but it saves them money. I just do a little of the snow, we don't get much. Its not that I would not do it if I cant claim it, I have been doing it for four years now. It's not like I'm trying to hurt the church, its just that if the IRS allows me to claim it, then I would like to take them up on it.....I don't think that makes me as you put it "selflessness". I give plenty of money and time to the church.
> 
> The point is.......If I can claim it as a donation or what ever and have the IRS blessing, then why not...
> 
> That's what my question was really for anyway.


Not sure if you read my post right...I didnt mean to question your intent. Good luck with whatever you do.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

snocrete;1214915 said:


> Not sure if you read my post right...I didnt mean to question your intent. Good luck with whatever you do.


I'm sorry, maybe I did take it wrong, my bad.

All is good....


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## dayexco (Oct 30, 2003)

we don't charge our own church, just expense IRS wise the fuel, parts, cutting edges, etc....we do 2 other churches...one month a year, we take the other 2 churches, submit invoice with a note saying, that let's say bill is $1000...if the congregation matches the $1000 in a special offering for the youth programs, and the church gives the youth program the $1000 they were invoiced from us...the youth get $2k, and we mark the invoice paid... here's a bulletin one of the churches sent us several yrs. back. i'm a firm believer in youth church programs.

on edit...by the way...this has picked us up a LOT of business...both in snow, but mainly in our excavating business.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

dayexco;1214955 said:


> we don't charge our own church, just expense IRS wise the fuel, parts, cutting edges, etc....we do 2 other churches...one month a year, we take the other 2 churches, submit invoice with a note saying, that let's say bill is $1000...if the congregation matches the $1000 in a special offering for the youth programs, and the church gives the youth program the $1000 they were invoiced from us...the youth get $2k, and we mark the invoice paid... here's a bulletin one of the churches sent us several yrs. back. i'm a firm believer in youth church programs.
> 
> on edit...by the way...this has picked us up a LOT of business...both in snow, but mainly in our excavating business.


Aw, that's really cool...Thumbs Up


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## Advantage (Nov 7, 2007)

No way in "hell" I'm doing a church for free.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

Advantage;1214993 said:


> No way in "hell" I'm doing a church for free.


That's it.....no reason...


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## qualitylawn (Feb 7, 2008)

FREE is not in my vocabulary!


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## Advantage (Nov 7, 2007)

JayD2;1215001 said:


> That's it.....no reason...


I have many reasons, but the biggest is liability. As another poster mentioned, free comes back to bite you more often than not.


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## Elwer Lawn Care (Nov 23, 2007)

I don't plow it for free, but I do it really cheap. Same goes for mowing. Altho I throw in other free services they dont ask for throughout the year.


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## 3bladz (Dec 8, 2005)

If I have time to do it myself, it's free (almost always). If I have to pay my guys to do it, I bill for it. As far as tax deduction wise, I think you are only allowed to bill for actual costs incurred, not labor, profit etc. Unless there is a tax professional willing to back you up on this, I would not use it as a write off. Just because the Church gives you the "charitable gift" letter, does not make it legal with the IRS.


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## plowfever (Nov 2, 2010)

I used to do the lawn care and snow for the church. It took 2 guys 1.5 hours to mow, 10 yds of mulch twice a year, 5 lawn treatments and 2 shrub trimmings and the snow removal for $180 mo. I was just covering my cost. Then the church was having a hard time so I provided all services for free for a entire year.Then some guy thought he had to take charge and thought I was stealing from the church basically. So he convinces them to go buy a new zero turn and they would mow it for little of nothing that way. Well came out that the mower cost $120mo and that is without fuel and they dont have snow removal or any of the other stuff done. After this experience I am no longer doing free work. I guess its like the old saying "you dont crap where you eat"


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## EvenCutLawnCare (Aug 12, 2008)

Cedar Grounds;1214867 said:


> below lowballing....


??? Please elaborate!


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## JTVLandscaping (Jan 1, 2010)

plowfever;1215320 said:


> I used to do the lawn care and snow for the church. It took 2 guys 1.5 hours to mow, 10 yds of mulch twice a year, 5 lawn treatments and 2 shrub trimmings and the snow removal for $180 mo. I was just covering my cost. Then the church was having a hard time so I provided all services for free for a entire year.Then some guy thought he had to take charge and thought I was stealing from the church basically. So he convinces them to go buy a new zero turn and they would mow it for little of nothing that way. Well came out that the mower cost $120mo and that is without fuel and they dont have snow removal or any of the other stuff done. After this experience I am no longer doing free work. I guess its like the old saying "you dont crap where you eat"


Like any group of people, there's always some idiot who ruins a good thing, I used to plow the firehouse for free, til all the good officers left and were replaced with a-holes, at least they still have the snow shovel I "donated" to them.


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## bskiball (Sep 5, 2009)

Half of my commercial accounts are Churches and not free. I give them all a more than fair rate as they are fairly flexible about when it needs done. Any time you are working for free it is killing our business.


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## PTSolutions (Dec 8, 2007)

its only our own church that gets donated back. we do work for other churches and they get invoiced just like everyone else.

my guys dont plow our church lot. its only me, my dad or brother that does it and its usually only done after the rest of the route is done. services are wed. night and sunday am & pm. other times we usually just plow out the drive access unless is 3"+ then we just do the lot. on a 2-4" storm the lot takes 20min tops. if you cant swallow the cost of plowing for 20min-1hr then you should re-evaluate your business as your not making enough money.

below lowballing??


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## dforbes (Jan 14, 2005)

Did a quick search and found this example. I would think snow removal would be the same thing.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses Incident to Services Rendered
•Although you may not deduct the value of services you render to a church, you may deduct out-of-pocket expenses incident to the provision of those services, provided you are not reimbursed for them (fuel expenses for transporting children to Vacation Bible School, for example).


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## Eronningen (Dec 20, 2008)

I would never plow a church of all places for free. They have big money. If they don't use it to pay expenses they have to give it to someone else anyway. They might as well give it to you for doing a nice service.


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## jmbones (Jun 17, 2009)

Eronningen;1215560 said:


> I would never plow a church of all places for free. They have big money. If they don't use it to pay expenses they have to give it to someone else anyway. They might as well give it to you for doing a nice service.


What he said. They may be "non profit", but believe me, they are in the money business!!


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## buckwheat_la (Oct 11, 2009)

We do our church at cost. That way I don't mind carrying insurance on it.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

Eronningen;1215560 said:


> I would never plow a church of all places for free. They have big money. If they don't use it to pay expenses they have to give it to someone else anyway. They might as well give it to you for doing a nice service.


I can see that with some really big churches, but not true in most counts. There are far more very small churches then there are really big ones....I have spent most of my life going to small ones, even was on the board for one and trust me, I have no reason to lie about it, but there are many who can hardly keep the lights on during the winter for the gas bill...I know of one that in the winter, they could not afford the gas bill to heat it up so the pastor held service in his house...Speaking of that one, the pastor and his wife both was school teachers for the public schools to help pay the bills. He had to hunt deer just to live on in some bad times.

I know there are some out there that pull in thousands every week but for every one that does there are 40 that just bring in a few hundreds...

You can tell which ones have money and not.


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## Eronningen (Dec 20, 2008)

There may be a few that don't have much but from where I'm from they all do well as far as I can tell.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

Eronningen;1215772 said:


> There may be a few that don't have much but from where I'm from they all do well as far as I can tell.


Trust me, I hear what your saying and if our church was doing really well, I would work out a payment plan with them...Maybe some day I will get to do that. I love to mow for churches even at a good discount. You have more open time to do them then a full time business.....I have called many a few years ago to no luck...Most have some one there who does it for them.


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## SnowGuy (Jan 7, 2006)

I plowed my church before, billed them just like anyone else and then donated what I charged them for the winter back to them. CPA is happy, church is happy, I am protected and the IRS is happy. A win-win-win situation.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

SnowGuy;1215803 said:


> I plowed my church before, billed them just like anyone else and then donated what I charged them for the winter back to them. CPA is happy, church is happy, I am protected and the IRS is happy. A win-win-win situation.


So you got a check, cashed it, donated it to the church and then claimed it as income right?...and then a donation?


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## motodad (Jul 6, 2010)

Well its prob best to plow it for free and not in exchange for anything like "pizza" or you could get bashed lol. Im sry guys I couldnt let this one slide by me lol. And for some of you this post was made as a joke to get a lol out of and nothing else. Thumbs Up


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## D&E (Nov 7, 2010)

There's a member on here with a very appropriate signature for this topic.

"My truck don't run on 'free'."


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## wideout (Nov 18, 2009)

i do the church that i have lived by for 26 years for free been doing it for 12 years now it takes 15 minutes and i do it when i do the city streets because there parking is just off the city streets and it makes me feel good to know im helping them out. its a town of 500 so they dont have much money and you can tell by the shape its in.


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## bub3020 (Feb 25, 2009)

cjasonbr;1214750 said:


> Nothing in life is free.
> 
> What you meant to ask is:
> 
> ...


i guess if god sends me enough free cigarettes i might plow churches for free! But until then i doubt it, too much liability.


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## SNOWLORD (Aug 10, 2007)

I have plowed the church my family attends for free for many years and it is pretty large, I guess I feel that I have been blessed with many things in life and giving back a few hours of time and some diesel fuel is the least I can do. But thats an old catholic boy talking. To each their own.


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

SNOWLORD;1216721 said:


> I have plowed the church my family attends for free for many years and it is pretty large, I guess I feel that I have been blessed with many things in life and giving back a few hours of time and some diesel fuel is the least I can do. But thats an old catholic boy talking. To each their own.


I agree. When I was a kid I always remember riding with my mom doing our local church that we went to. I'd never even think of charging for it. I'd do my church now but another member has been doing it for years for free. It really costs next to nothing to do the job and the satisfaction is worth it. There is more to life then money. In all honesty I should give back more to my community as I have a lot to be thankfull for.


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## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

I have a broker that plows with 2 backhoe's for me. He also does all my loader work. He shows up every time and is always there for the extra's when I need him.

Just before Christmas he asked me to salt the Church parking lot that he plows. I went over right away and did it. When he asked me how much I told him it was my good deed for the day. He wanted to at least pay me for the salt and I said no. I know he does all the work for free. There are times when helping out is going to cost you a few bucks but in the end it all comes around.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

JD Dave;1216726 said:


> I agree. When I was a kid I always remember riding with my mom doing our local church that we went to. I'd never even think of charging for it. I'd do my church now but another member has been doing it for years for free. It really costs next to nothing to do the job and the satisfaction is worth it. There is more to life then money. In all honesty I should give back more to my community as I have a lot to be thankfull for.


Aw...Thats nice JD Dave, good man.....Thumbs Up

We all should feel like this..


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

cet;1216737 said:


> I have a broker that plows with 2 backhoe's for me. He also does all my loader work. He shows up every time and is always there for the extra's when I need him.
> 
> Just before Christmas he asked me to salt the Church parking lot that he plows. I went over right away and did it. When he asked me how much I told him it was my good deed for the day. He wanted to at least pay me for the salt and I said no. I know he does all the work for free. There are times when helping out is going to cost you a few bucks but in the end it all comes around.


Oh, how very true....its like paying it forward.....I like that..


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## Eronningen (Dec 20, 2008)

SNOWLORD;1216721 said:


> I have plowed the church my family attends for free for many years and it is pretty large, I guess I feel that I have been blessed with many things in life and giving back a few hours of time and some diesel fuel is the least I can do. But thats an old catholic boy talking. To each their own.


I can't hardly believe it!!! You and free????????? Thats like trying to mix water and oil.


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## GHalleland (Jan 21, 2011)

SNOWLORD;1216721 said:


> I have plowed the church my family attends for free for many years and it is pretty large, I guess I feel that I have been blessed with many things in life and giving back a few hours of time and some diesel fuel is the least I can do. But thats an old catholic boy talking. To each their own.


Hey Snowlord, the "Ground Squirrels" would like you to stop picking on them!! They aren't happy........


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## Winter Land Man (Aug 9, 2005)

JayD2;1214714 said:


> Does anyone in here plow for their/or a church and does not charge for it?
> 
> If you do, can / or do you use it as a tax write off?
> 
> If so, how?


I once plowed a church for a few storms one winter... it was across the street from my old house. I stopped doing it when they wanted me to salt their parking lot for free.


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## ACA L&L (Jan 5, 2007)

I have in the past, however i will porbably not do it again.......


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## uglyorangeplow (Mar 4, 2010)

we do our own church for free, we salt it but they buy the salt. other churches get a bill but its not much at all, enough to cover fuel pretty much


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## skywalker (Nov 15, 2009)

Coming from an ex Catholic, so i can say this, ive seen my priests on the news, the Church has money to bail whoever out of whatever, there is no way i would NOT charge a church, just my 2 cents


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## ColvinsPS (Oct 16, 2010)

skywalker;1225811 said:


> Coming from an ex Catholic, so i can say this, ive seen my priests on the news, the Church has money to bail whoever out of whatever, there is no way i would NOT charge a church, just my 2 cents


Not every church is catholic and not every church has money. Trust me i know as i am a minister and i was heavily involved in a church for years. My wife and I are trying to start a church here soon.

Back to the topic. Currently i would help plow my church but it is an hour away and by the time i get done my sub work they are already done the lot. I do think it is a good idea if you want to do it for free and still get a donation credit if you bill the church for a reasonable amount and then donate back what you were billing for.

Giving to the youth fund is an awesome idea. Most churches do not allot much funding for the youth since many churches are just trying to pay the electric bills, so the youth are left to fund raise for themselves.

I like what JD Dave said when he stated that money is not everything. This is soo true. I understand liability problems and all but you make the decision yourself. Not everyone will want to help a church out like this but some people will.


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

ColvinsPS;1225824 said:


> Not every church is catholic and not every church has money. Trust me i know as i am a minister and i was heavily involved in a church for years. My wife and I are trying to start a church here soon.
> 
> Back to the topic. Currently i would help plow my church but it is an hour away and by the time i get done my sub work they are already done the lot. I do think it is a good idea if you want to do it for free and still get a donation credit if you bill the church for a reasonable amount and then donate back what you were billing for.
> 
> ...


If I understand it right from this thread, if you bill it then just give it back, I would think that you would end up paying more taxes on the reported income then what the donation credit will give you.

I'm no tax person, but it might be better just to do it for free and use all of Gods blessings for your return.Thumbs Up


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## ColvinsPS (Oct 16, 2010)

JayD2;1225865 said:


> If I understand it right from this thread, if you bill it then just give it back, I would think that you would end up paying more taxes on the reported income then what the donation credit will give you.
> 
> I'm no tax person, but it might be better just to do it for free and use all of Gods blessings for your return.Thumbs Up


I am not sure but at most i would bill it at cost and then donate. This could be for some a charitable giving.

I agree that just do it for free and let God bless you for it. I just gave our pastor my salt spreader because he said they have been salting the church parking lot by hand. I picked up another one through a trade for some other stuff and have been fixing it up to work for me. Needless to say he was more than excited to try it out the past 2 days.

You can't out give God. He will bless you richly for what you give with the right attitude and motives!


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## JayD2 (Sep 3, 2009)

ColvinsPS;1226019 said:


> I am not sure but at most i would bill it at cost and then donate. This could be for some a charitable giving.
> 
> I agree that just do it for free and let God bless you for it. I just gave our pastor my salt spreader because he said they have been salting the church parking lot by hand. I picked up another one through a trade for some other stuff and have been fixing it up to work for me. Needless to say he was more than excited to try it out the past 2 days.
> 
> You can't out give God. He will bless you richly for what you give with the right attitude and motives!


How true.....How true! You are right on there...


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

For those of you that plow churches on a full price contract price, do you ever have trouble getting paid?


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## mullis56 (Jul 12, 2005)

Never had a problem getting paid.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

merrimacmill;1305342 said:


> For those of you that plow churches on a full price contract price, do you ever have trouble getting paid?


Well they do have more money then God!


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## Plow man Foster (Dec 10, 2010)

We plow churches and temples and charge for both! I go to church. But i gotta make a living too. 

I hate how customers dont pay their bills! Im pretty sure they dont go to Costco and tell the cashier they're just going to pay for the 1st carton of OJ and the next 3 cartons next week!


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## Turkeylee (Nov 25, 2010)

*church*

I and another member of the church take turns or help each other, all depends how it works out that particular storm. Then consider it a donation and get a letter from them for tax season.


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## JohnnyRoyale (Jun 18, 2006)

Would you plow a church or place of worship from another religion for free?

Church is a business IMO...and gets billed like everyone else.

Attending mass is NOT free...assuming you are catholic...you are paying for it weekly at every collection,,,someone paid the church for you to get baptized, your first communion, your confirmation, your marriage and ultimately your funeral...did I forget one?

My kid sister recently got married...shes from Barrie, her husband to be was from Milton (almost 100 kms away)...the reception was in Vaughan (exacly half way).. to avoid the potention inconvenience to family and friends wanting to attend the marriage ceremony at the church they approached a priest in a church located in Vaughan...first answer was absolutely no!!- as they were not a member of that particular church...then his tone changed and heh said he would accept a $2000.00 cash donation on top of the marriage fees and he could make it happen!!!!!!

Dont get me wrong, I believe in GOD...but the church is a scam..open your eyes if you dont think so.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Was this a mob church that you had to pay vig to get married?


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## JohnnyRoyale (Jun 18, 2006)

No kidding.


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

merrimacmill;1305342 said:


> For those of you that plow churches on a full price contract price, do you ever have trouble getting paid?


Nope. I have net 30 days on the invoices to them, and usually get in 10-15.


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

JohnnyRoyale;1305617 said:


> Would you plow a church or place of worship from another religion for free?
> 
> *Church is a business *IMO...and gets billed like everyone else.
> 
> ...


The Church is a Business.......That Doe's *NOT* pay Taxes.....Hit the Nail on the head with this post sir......:salute:


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## Plow man Foster (Dec 10, 2010)

JohnnyRoyale;1305617 said:


> Would you plow a church or place of worship from another religion for free?
> 
> Church is a business IMO...and gets billed like everyone else.
> 
> ...





Matson Snow;1305658 said:


> The Church is a Business.......That Doe's *NOT* pay Taxes.....Hit the Nail on the head with this post sir......:salute:


x2! my church brings in over 7G's a Sunday. So there is no reason for me not to charge.


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

So...Plowing a church at a Discount or for free will get me to the front of the line to Heaven....Is this the reason why anyone would do this????


Why not plow a Hospital for free or discounted...They help alot of People????


What about schools....Lets Plow them for a Discount or for free...They help alot of Children, don't they?????


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Matson Snow;1305666 said:


> So...Plowing a church at a Discount or for free will get me to the front of the line to Heaven....Is this the reason why anyone would do this????


Your going to need more then plowing a church lot to get to heaven!


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

grandview;1305713 said:


> Your going to need more then plowing a church lot to get to heaven!


:laughing::laughing:.......Amen Brother.....


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## Arc Burn (Oct 21, 2002)

Plow man Foster;1305664 said:


> x2! my church brings in over 7G's a Sunday. So there is no reason for me not to charge.


My Aunt is an elder at a local small rural church and she can tell you they have more money than they know what to do with,so no,i wouldn't plow for free,in fact i have recently serviced/repaired a JD lawn mower for them and knowing what i do i had no problem handing them a bill and they had less of a problem paying it.


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

I do a church, they pay well and on time. They send me copies of the building schedule let me know when they are canceling services due to inclement weather so I can adjust my priorities. All in all and excellent custoer and I go out of my way to provide for their special requirements i.e. midnight services, Christmas services Mid week evening gatherings. They are the only ones who do not pay a Christmas day labor premium.


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## JohnnyRoyale (Jun 18, 2006)

basher;1305909 said:


> I do a church, they pay well and on time. They send me copies of the building schedule let me know when they are canceling services due to inclement weather so I can adjust my priorities. All in all and excellent custoer and I go out of my way to provide for their special requirements i.e. midnight services, Christmas services Mid week evening gatherings. They are the only ones who do not pay a *Christmas day labor premium*.


Thats a concept.


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

JohnnyRoyale;1305913 said:


> Thats a concept.


I charge a 30% Christmas day premium and divide it equally among the crew that works. only fair if they give up their Christmas so others can have theirs.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Looks like Basher will in the front of the line when the time come!


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

To sign the new contract? I hope so.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

There's a church in our area where they have a Tim Hortons coffee shop in the lobby.


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## jgoetter1 (Feb 23, 2007)

skywalker;1225811 said:


> Coming from an ex Catholic, so i can say this, ive seen my priests on the news, the Church has money to bail whoever out of whatever, there is no way i would NOT charge a church, just my 2 cents


While reading this thread, I was just waiting for the anti-catholic rhetoric to begin. So you're done donating service because the church defended a bad priest? That makes a lot of sense...


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## KBTConst (Oct 25, 2009)

I plow a churh and they get charged, my church when they neplowed they get charged but I donate it back to the youth group for their misson trip that they go on every yr.


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## 4wydnr (Feb 3, 2008)

Money is cyclical and it's hard to accept money with a clenched fist. There is nothing wrong with being charitable at times, you certainly can't do everything for free you still have to eat. But doing some stuff for free might open the door to a bigger deal down the line.

Last year I dropped my commercial insurance policy on my truck since I wasn't doing anything with it, but the insurance agent said if I wasn't getting paid for plowing I would still be covered.


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## lawnlandscape (Oct 8, 2009)

Some of the people posting on this thread plow their church for free, then turn around and scam the government to make it a right off.... Which goes directly against what that very church teaches.... 

I do my accounting an an actual cash basis, and am not familiar with the way other accounting methods work though.


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## HLS Wholesale (Dec 10, 2002)

It really surprises me at some of the responses on this forum. Some members seem outright hostile and hateful toward the church at large. I can understand if you simply do not believe what a particular church believes, but these responses go beyond that. There is a mocking, hateful, bitter tone to many of them. Quite sad, actually. My guess it goes deeper than what's on the surface...

As for the financial aspect of it, there is nothing wrong with deducting the costs of performing a service for the church, or any other 501C3 organization for that matter.

And, seriously folks, think about it for a second. Do you really think these volunteers are going out at 3AM in 0 degree weather to plow a $100 parking lot for free so they can deduct the $20 of gas, which ends up saving them about $5 of taxes? I don't think so. They're doing it because they believe in the mission of the church, as do all the other volunteers who do things weekly such as the volunteer nursery/day care workers, teachers, etc. For you guys to mock this is quite pretentious. For every bad church preacher out there (and there are some), there are 50 others who run honest, helpful ministries.

Have a little respect!


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

The part about deducing the value of the plowing . If your doing say 1,000 worth of work ,you can't just deduct it off your books .I thought you have to place the value of service in your revenue then it can be ducted as a business expense. If you want to donate your services to the church then I think you would be better off doing as a "personal" donation. This way you can get a letter from them to deduct off your personal income and count it as your " Tithing' to them.


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## HLS Wholesale (Dec 10, 2002)

grandview;1309286 said:


> The part about deducing the value of the plowing . If your doing say 1,000 worth of work ,you can't just deduct it off your books .I thought you have to place the value of service in your revenue then it can be ducted as a business expense. If you want to donate your services to the church then I think you would be better off doing as a "personal" donation. This way you can get a letter from them to deduct off your personal income and count it as your " Tithing' to them.


The deduction can take place one of two ways:

1. Record the revenue in your books, then record the same amount of that gift as a charitable deduction (make sure you get a receipt for that gift from the Church if you do it this way). These just net out to zero. Remember, the other expenses (gas, paid labor, salt, etc.) will be expensed just as they are expensed for any other job. They will have their own line item such as "cost of services" or "gas" or "wages and salaries," etc, etc.

or,

2. Do not record the revenue since no income is being received, and do not record any charitable gift, since there is no revenue being received. The other expenses (gas, paid labor, salt, etc.) will still be recorded as usual.

The net effect of these is the same. However, please note that under method #1 above charitable deductions do have limitations. They are limited to 50% of your AGI (adjusted gross income.) So if you are planning on showing very little income in a given year, or if you take advantage of the section 179 deduction (purchased a new bobcat, for instance, and want to write it off the first year instead of depreciating it over time), the charitable deduction may be limited.

Because of the charitable deductions limitations, receipt requirements, etc. I have always opted to not record the revenue and simply expense the out of pocket costs.

Hope that helps...

Dan


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## t608 (Sep 17, 2011)

I plow a church for free not that I go to church. I feel I plow the church for my uncle which has passed away three years ago. Twenty three years ago I started plowing for my lawn customers at the time my uncle had been plowing the church for free for years. He got out of plowing and I took over plowing the church. I don't mind as he was always there for me.

The lot does take long to plow now as when I first started out. It use to take 45mins. Now with my 9.6 xtreme v I'm out of there in 20mins.

I don't use this as tax right off.


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