A church letter

[Black Bart]

Most charitable contribution acknowledgments that clients bring in nowadays are written on those commercially printed forms which list tithes ("tights-$500" one salt-of-the-earther recently put it ) week-by-week, quarter totals, and then an annual grand total. But...several old-timey rural churches still bring a simple document (a letterhead if I'm lucky; a rent receipt book ticket if not) stating "Sam Soulsearcher gave $2,000 to Wildwood Holiness in 2012." And...that's it; which is okay 'cause hardly anybody here can afford $250 weekly and don't require a separate acknowledgment.

The problem: My well-to-do widowed client recently had a bumper crop and plans to donate $25K this coming year (our local sage Reuben, sole proprietor of Rube's Lubes LLC; opined "She's got enuff money to burn a wet mule.") to the Hosanna Heavenborn Haven which puts out the aforementioned short version, one-total "church letter".

That won't work this time since she'll be giving $500 weekly, but does she have to get multiple actual separate receipts or can her church just borrow another's blank printed weekly donation forms, fill it in, and thus put her in compliance with "a separate acknowledgment" for contributions $250 and over?

[buzzardbreath]

Annual will suffice

I believe an annual report with a single total would suffice. For this kinda money they could pull a streetwalker
off the street with a vaudeville hook and make her a church secretary, thus saving her soul on the spot!

The church should be advised to give her a document with a letterhead, and by all means make sure they issue it
before the due date of her tax return. I believe this to be more important than piles of weekly receipts.

[Jiggers]

An annual report with the total is acceptable. However, it must detail the contributions of $250 or more.

And don't forget that the statement must also have the "... no goods or services..." otherwise it is worthless.

[JON]

Gomez case

He had copies of all checks to the church, a letter from the church and lost his contributions for income taxes. The letter was not dated prior to the return being filed. If over $250 you have to have the letter with the comment as to no goods or services on it. I f not you are gambling it will not be reviewed by taxing authorities. That does work a lot if you are comfortable. If Comez would have received a copy of previous sent letter dated and worded correctly he would have won.

[Chief]

Preacher Black Bart

Good to hear from you again. LOL. Why I believe. every thiiiing I am told. Brother you have to believe.

[Black Bart]

Thanx Billy,

Good to hear from you again. LOL. Why I believe. every thiiiing I am told. Brother you have to believe.

Good to hear from you too. But what exactly is it that you're believing (or have been told )? My widder-woman client definitely believes 'cause she "got religion" (a strong dose; it's catchin') last year -- not sure if because she's getting long-in-the-tooth or getting fire insurance for past indiscretions. Rube confides (claims to have once been an actual witness) in her youth she was notorious for midnight (gasp) skinny-dippin' at a secluded, local swimmin' hole -- his eloquent assessment of the incident: "She wuz nekkid as a picked bird."

But enough foofaraw; as a (tax)man of the cloth, how do you vote; week-by-week posting or one annual total?

Regards, BB

[JohnH]

Bart:
If you're going to use on of these words in a sentence, I think it's important to clarify the difference between "naked" and "nekkid". So just to save you the trouble (since I'm sure you already know this), and since I know many of our brether'n and sister'n on this board are likely curious, here it is:

"Naked" means you ain't got on no clothes.

"Nekkid" means you ain't got on no clothes AND you're up to something.

[Black Bart]

Dear BB2 (if I may so address you since I consider myself- by right of seniority- to be BB1 ), I wanted to ask -- when you said this:

Annual will suffice

I believe an annual report with a single total would suffice. For this kinda money they could pull a streetwalker
off the street with a vaudeville hook and make her a church secretary, thus saving her soul on the spot!

The church should be advised to give her a document with a letterhead, and by all means make sure they issue it
before the due date of her tax return. I believe this to be more important than piles of weekly receipts.

did you mean that you believe a "one-total" letter without listing the over $250 contris separately on the letter would be adequate? Or are you agreeing with Jiggers' post

An annual report with the total is acceptable. However, it must detail the contributions of $250 or more...

which I assume means to write the year's total on a letter and below it list the date and amount of each donation over $250 (even if there are 52 of them).

P.S. About the church secretary; I think I know that ol' gal. Be warned however, that by mentioning a vaudeville hook, you're giving away your age (not old enough to have lived in that era, but weathered sufficiently to be interested in TCM movies of the period.).

And thanks for the reply; there seems to be a shortage hereabouts of those knowledgeable in church matters/affairs (if trivial).

---------------------------------------------

Say John,

Being aware of your sanctimonious nature, I must say I'm surprised at your interest

Bart:
...I think it's important to clarify the difference between "naked" and "nekkid"...:
"Naked" means you ain't got on no clothes. "Nekkid" means you ain't got on no clothes AND you're up to something.

in my low comedy. For reputation's sake, you might consider hereinafter confining your analysis to more seemly subjects; to wit: one of your excellent political observations of yesteryear (this posted to TMI 5-12-08 by JohnH): "I heard a great political quote on the radio this AM. When Adlai Stevenson was campaigning for president, a lady in the crowd shouted 'Every thinking person in the country is voting for you!' To which Adlai Stevenson replied, 'Madam, that isn't enough - I need a majority!'"

[JohnH]

After having my hand slapped a few times for venturing too far into this arena, I've sworn off political commentary for the most part. One can play "whack-a-mole" only so long with the moderators on any forum if he wants to keep participating.

But I haven't sworn off humor, and so when certain matters appear, up I pop.
Naturally, when you uncovered a subject with which I was familiar (all other details not being exposed in order to protect the guilty), I couldn't resist the urge to jump in and bare it all.

[Burke]

I recently advised a church I work with (that uses Qbks) to simply print off a detail sheet from their records for each parishioner that had the $250 situation and attach it to their cover letter showing the total amount. Any objections to that method?

[JohnH]

I think it's better to send a contribution statement to every giver at year-end, regardless of amount of any gift. (Maybe it would be OK to exclude the "one-up" non-member givers who make memorial contributions when someone dies or other single-gift situations, but those should have been acknowledged at the time the gift was received anyhow).

And I'd make sure the 'No goods or services..." statement is printed on the bottom of each and every page which has numbers on it. I think this can be done via a "footnote" in QB. But if not, then it's easy enough to set the bottom margin high in QB, then print the statements on paper which has already been pre-printed with the statement at the bottom. That requires two passes through the printer, and some pages may jam & have to be re-run, but still worth the once-a-year effort IMO.

I'm suggesting that acknowledging gifts to a church (or to a non-profit organization) isn't just about tax compliance. It also involves letting people know in a tangible way their faithfulness and stewardship is appreciated.

[Burke]

I guess I wasn't clear enough, but the church currently sends every parishioner a letter (with the proper wording which I had them add a few years ago) for the total amount the church receives. I was thinking they could ADD the QB statement which would detail the "$250 or more" contributions to those to which it applied at year end, rather than send a separate letter every time.

[JohnH]

You were clear enough - I just need to read more carefully...

[New York Enrolled Agent]

That won't work this time since she'll be giving $500 weekly, but does she have to get multiple actual separate receipts or can her church just borrow another's blank printed weekly donation forms, fill it in, and thus put her in compliance with "a separate acknowledgment" for contributions $250 and over?

Bart

I think the answer is in the regulations. You might want to read the entire document (Reg. §1.170A-13(f)) but a snip follows:

(f) Substantiation of charitable contributions of $250 or more.


(1) In general.
No deduction is allowed under section 170(a) for all or part of any contribution of $250 or more unless the taxpayer substantiates the contribution with a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the donee organization. A taxpayer who makes more than one contribution of $250 or more to a donee organization in a taxable year may substantiate the contributions with one or more contemporaneous written acknowledgments.

One acknowledgement will suffice provided, of course, that is properly written with the required contents needed for substantiation purposes.

[Black Bart]

Thanks, friend .