Prior to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, certain business expenses were deductible if, in aggregate, they exceeded 2 percent of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income (AGI), said Richard Hammar, tax attorney, CPA, and senior editor of Church Finance Today.

Some expenses subject to the 2 percent AGI floor included:

• overnight out-of-town travel;
• local transportation;
• meals (subject to a 50 percent AGI floor);
• entertainment (subject to a 50 percent AGI floor);
• home office expenses;
• business gifts;
• dues to professional societies;
• work-related education;
• work clothes and uniforms if required and not suitable for everyday use;
• malpractice insurance;
• subscriptions to professional journals and trade magazines related to the taxpayer's work; and
• equipment and supplies used in the tax- payer's work.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, however, "suspends all miscellaneous itemized deductions that are subject to the 2 percent floor," Hammar said.The inability to itemize and deduct business expenses "will hit some clergy hard," Hammar said. He suggested this possible workaround: "Churches could reimburse employees' business expenses under an accountable expense reimbursement arrangement."