The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued the 2013 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating a vehicle for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. 

Beginning Jan. 1, the standard mileage rate for using a car for business will be 56.5 cents per mile. The standard mileage rate for using a car in service of charitable organizations is 14 cents per mile. 

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

On the charge conference report recently approved, you marked either "The Internal Revenue Service mileage rate in effect" OR "xx cents per mile, not to exceed the IRS rate" on the Accountable Reimbursement Plan. If you marked "The IRS mileage rate in effect" you will, as of January 1, 2013, reimburse valid business-related mileage at the new rate of 56.5 cents per mile.

Online Giving Now Available

The Indiana United Methodist Conference Financial Services announced today a new online electronic giving service provided by Vanco Services, LLC for use by the Indiana Conference. Vanco Services is endorsed by the General Council of Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church as a partner in offering financial services online. Vanco currently works with more than 11,000 churches and nonprofit organizations and offers several web-based electronic giving solutions under the e.service® brand. This new online giving enables the Indiana Conference to accept donations on the conference website through a secure Vanco-hosted payment page. To access this new online giving, click here. This service is voluntary for local churches as an alternative to the Indiana Conference bank lockbox in Carol Stream, Ill. If you have questions, direct them to Heidi Harding, conference controller, at heidi.harding@inumc.org. To view the Active Advance listing, click here.

July 12-14, 2013
Belmont University - Nashville, TN 

Speakers for the event, held once every four years, include: Don Davis, former NFL football player now serving as regional director of the NFL Players Association; David Delk, president of Orlando, Fla.-based Man in the Mirror Ministries; Bishop Swanson, elected to the episcopacy in 2004 and appointed to the Holston Area prior to his recent move to the Mississippi Area; and the Rev. Shane Bishop, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Fairview Heights, Ill., a church that increased the number of members from 200 in 2009 to 1,000 in 2012.

There will be 18 workshops for the national gathering.

Participants will also engage in bagging 40,000 pounds of produce for Nashville area food banks, building hand carts for people in African nations who have lost the use of their legs; and preparing ingredients for dehydrated food packages for emergency situations.

The theme of the event will be "From the Inside Out," words from a song performed on a CD "Into the Light" by Phil Stacey, one of the five finalists on season six of the American Idol television show. The Nashville public will be invited to his concert on Saturday evening.

Price for the registration and meals at the three-day event was set at $239 for people who register before March 1 and $299 after that date. Housing costs vary. More details on this event can be found by clicking here.