charitable contributions of more than $250

[RWG1950]

It has been my understanding that to be deductible, a receipt for a contribution of $250 or more must have
the disclaimer language indicating that "no goods or service were received in exchange for the contribution".
I am seeing some large receipts provided from charities and churches that do not seem to contain the magic words.
Has this requirement changed ?

[Jiggers]

No, nothing changed. The secretaries or bookkeepers that prepare most of those statements without the proper wording are usually members of that organization and probably not paid any compensation. I give a copy of the IRS Pub 1771 to my client to give to their church/organization and have them correct the receipt. I still struggle with some churches that will just give a receipt for $XXXX.XX and the proper wording but not in sufficient form to substantiate single donations of $250 or more.

[Uncle Sam]

For all the good it does - public charities such as Goodwill don't even provide you with anything more than a computerized dated receipt saying "5 bags" with no description of anything. and no "exchange" clause. I have also found very FEW organizations put that "exchange" clause in their correspondence.

[Lion]

I've written to a couple of treasurers and found they updated their boilerplate receipts/letters going forward. Just provide them with the exact wording they need to make it easy for them to update their documents in the future.