Ministers can find additional help in preparing their 2010 federal income tax returns from GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The annual 2011 Tax Return Preparation and Federal Reporting Guide details recent changes to tax laws and their effect on ministers. The guide includes important tax law changes signed into law by President Barack Obama in December.

GuideStone understands how ministerial taxes are different than anyone else’s, so they have had Richard Hammer, a noted CPA, attorney and widely published author who specializes in legal and tax issues for ministers.

“The informative free tax guide includes sample tax returns with step-by-step instructions for active and retired ministers, as well as a special pull-out section regarding the federal reporting requirements for churches,” said O.S. Hawkins, GuideStone president. “Each year, thousands of ministers and their tax preparers rely on the helpful information in this guide to navigate the unique tax status of ministers of the Gospel.”

Tax Guide Download
The downloadable tax guide includes any updates GuideStone has made to the tax guide. If you downloaded a previous version, or if you received a printed copy, GuideStone offers a summary of changes to previous versions of the guide.

The tax guide is available for download in two ways — multiple files or one single file. The single file download is recommended only for those with a high speed Internet connection.

Single File Download
To download the entire tax guide (approximately 4 MB in size), click here.

Multiple File Downloads
To download the tax guide in sections (five, all of which are about 2 MB), all of which are less than 1 megabyte in size, click on the section links below.

Section 1 (pages 1–14, 340 KB)
Contents:
President’s message.
Part 1. Introduction.
Part 2. Special Rules for Ministers

Section 2 (pages 15-40, 369 KB)
Contents:
Part 3. Step-by-Step Tax Return Preparation
Form 1040.
Schedules A, B, C, C-EZ, and SE.
Forms 2106 and 2106-EZ.

Section 3 (pages 41-53, 2.1 MB)
Contents:
Part 4. Comprehensive Example and Forms
Comprehensive example for senior minister.
Example W-2 and 1040.
Example Schedules A, C-EZ, M, and SE.
Forms 2106-EZ.
Explanation of sample forms for active minister.

Section 4 (pages 54-62, 1.5 MB)
Contents:
Part 4. Comprehensive Example and Forms, continued.
Comprehensive example for retired minister.
Form 1099-R
Example Schedules C-EZ, L, and SE.
Explanation of sample forms for retired minister.
Comprehensive Example and Forms, continued.

Section 5 (pages 63–75, 328 KB)
Contents:
Special section: Important federal requirements for churches.
Appendices.

Find IRS forms, instructions and publications on the IRS Website or call 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).

GuideStone participants can order a free printed copy by calling Customer Service at 1-888-98-GUIDE (1-888-984-8433) between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. CST Monday-Friday.

Participants may also contact GuideStone to request a printed or CD version of the tax guide.