Another Homeschool Carnival is up and running at  Melissa's Idea Garden.  It has a lovely Mother's Day theme.  Enjoy reading other blogs from homeschoolers.

I try to participate in a Homeschool carnival at least once a month (they come out weekly), but missed several months during tax season.  It's fun to be "back in the saddle" again.

Tawnya B. of Rapid City, SD wrote and asked me:

If our homeschool co-op wants to give someone an honorarium for teaching a class, does that constitute an independent contractor with all of the tax implications?

I am so pleased and excited to announce that my book

Homeschool Co-ops will help homeschool parents, leaders and co-op members run successful, happy homeschool organizations. Included are stories from co-op leaders on how they started their groups, what worked and what didn’t, and what they wouldn’t do again. The book also shares how to deal with conflict, why a board and bylaws are needed, and helpful tips to avoid frustration and burn out.

Homeschool Co-ops has advice from the author, homeschooling mother Carol Topp, CPA, and from other homeschool leaders on:

• Pros and cons of starting a homeschool co-op.
• Types of co-ops
• Having a focus and a mission
• Running a planning meeting
• Gathering interest
• Getting help
• Setting policies
• Managing the money
• Dealing with volunteers
• Handling conflict
• Ideas for classes.
• Avoiding burnout

Visit the book’s website www.HomescoolCo-ops.com to read a sample chapter, view the table of contents and see what others say about the book.

Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out
Aventine Press, 2008, paperback /$12.50 list price
ISBN:1-59330-533-8

I hope you order a copy, enjoy it, write a review and tell a friend!

Carol

Here's a question asking how much money can a homeschool group earn before filing a tax return:

HI Carol-
I really appreciate your website.  I have a question regarding leading a homeschool group.  We have not filed for non-profit status as of yet, but we are considering it.  We have a mission stmt, by-laws in place, an EIN, and a board.  From what I seem to understand we would be considered a unincorporated association.  Does that title seem appropriate? We want to make sure we do everything "by the book".  We were under the understanding that we could not exceed $5000.00 going through our group bank account before it becomes necessary for us to go through the process of becoming a non-profit org. and filing a tax return.  Any help you can pass on would be appreciated.
Thanks so much.
Christina  in CA

From my website I get asked a lot of questions by homeschool leaders.  I usually answer them via e-mail, but now I'm going to share their questions and my answers with you on this blog.  I read several blogs and the most interesting ones have a Q&A format, where readers ask a question and the blog host answers it.  I'm planning on doing more of that in the future.

I'm establishing a new category titled: Q&A from Homeschool Leaders.  It will have some older blog entries reclassified and I'll add new ones as time goes by.

If you have a question that is not covered in this new category, please feel free to comment here or drop me an e-mail.  I always protect your privacy by removing city state and group names.

I hope you learn something new and helpful in this new direction for my blog.

Carol Topp, CPA
www.HomeschoolCPA.com
Helping Homeschool Leaders and Organizations

There is a bill in Congress HR 1056: Family Education Freedom Act of 2007 that would give every parent up to a $5,000 tax credit for educational expenses.  Sounds good, huh?  Well...if it sounds to good to be true, it just might be... . 
Rep Ron Paul introduces something  like this every year.  Check out the status of the bill here.  It never got out of committee.

As Home Education Magazine commentator Valerie B Moon states, the bill may not be all that great:

This bill may look good on the surface, but the kicker is, “Amends the Internal Revenue Code.”  To receive such a credit in this manner, a family would have to meet the requirements of the IRS who would then be in the business of writing rules saying that A, B and C are acceptable practices for receiving a credit, but that X, Y and Z are not.

H.R. 1056 — Full text 

`(e) Regulations- The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section, including regulations providing for claiming the credit under this section on Form 1040EZ.’

HomeschoolCPA's blog is a wonderful medium to READ what HomeschoolCPA has to say, but now you can HEAR me too! 

• Just a little more money will solve all my problems
• It was on sale, so I saved money
• Homeschooling is expensive
• and the favorite among homeschoolers: I'll use it someday!
  

• the proper attitudes toward money
• what to teach at what age

From the Online Newshour at PBS comes this calculator for the Economic Stimulus Rebate checks coming this summer.

Homeschooling author Ruth Beechick writes a short column for The Old Schoolhouse's e-newsletter The Homeschool Minute.  Ruth's topic in March 2008 was forming a small homeschool co-op.

It's Just Common Sense
Ruth Beechick, Curriculum Specialist

Here's one work idea that can help to spread and strengthen the homeschool movement. You could offer tutoring and homeschooling help to a family less experienced or less confident than you are. One great system would be to take in a child who can study alongside one of your children. Teach them together on arithmetic or whatever the mother most wants help with. You can have the child one or two days a week (or more) and require homework assignments between times. You could require the mother to be there if she needs to build confidence in homeschooling, or maybe not, if you are relieving a busy mother from one of her homeschool problems. Flex this any way you wish.

A second idea is to plan a co-op on a topic you feel confident with. But avoid the burdening overreach that so many co-ops have done. Do not make it into practically a school by teaching one day a week and then giving assignments that eat up the rest of the children's week, and then giving grades that pulls responsibility away from the parents. Grades are not necessary, anyway, unless certain students need transcripts. Let parents handle that their preferred way. Your co-op could be one meeting only or could meet for a full semester, or any length in between. Try to include all your children, or perhaps pay a mother and older child to care for toddlers during the class.

Don't try to be what you believe is co-opish or schoolish or any particular form. Just plan what fits what you want to teach, and charge families what will pay for your time. You can make it both a job and a ministry that does not take you away from your own children.

--Ruth

I'll be presenting two of my favorite workshops at the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 28 and 29, 2008

I'm glad that I'm getting to present each workshop twice.  That gives attendees more opportunities to visit some of the other wonderful workshops.  Frankly I think my friends Brennan and MaryJo Dean the convention promoters and organizers go waaayyy overboard on the number of speakers!  There are too many good choices! 

My volunteer stint at the Tax Tips Hotline for a local TV show went pretty well.  The phones never stopped ringing during my two-hour shift.  I answered 47 calls in two hours, or one every 2.5 minutes. My ear was sore!

• Economic Stimulus Rebate (about 3/4 of the calls were on the rebate program)
• Tax treatment of a home repair project
  
• Rental Property
• Amended tax returns
  
• Withdrawals from an IRA
• Tuition payments to college
• College student working in another state
• Energy credits
• Student loans
  
• Lawsuit payments

Caller (an 83 year old woman asking about filing Form 1040A to receive her Stimulus Rebate Check): "Do I put my husband's name on the form also?  He passed away."
HomeschoolCPA: "Oh , I'm so sorry.  When did he pass away, ma'am?"
Caller: "Oh, more than twenty years ago."
HomeschoolCPA (trying not to laugh): "No you don't need to include his name, then."
Caller: "Alright, what do I put for occupation?"
HomeschoolCPA: "Retired."

Does your local TV station have a call-in tax question show?  WCPO here in Cincinnati has one evening where viewers can call an get their questions answered by a CPA.  The Ohio Society of CPAs gets volunteer CPAs to man the phone lines for a few hours.

This year HomeschoolCPA will be volunteering a few of her precious hours to answer questions.  I'll probably get my face on TV during the evening news, too! (What should I wear?!)