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Year-End Charitable Giving Statements

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Question 1:

 Is there a required date by which contribution statements should to sent to church constituents?

 Answer 1:

 There is no mandatory date for distribution of contributions statements. However, IRS Publication 1771 states, "a donor is responsible for obtaining a written acknowledgment from a charity for any single contribution of $250 or more before the donor can claim a charitable contribution on his/her federal income tax return." If the church fails to provide this statement within a reasonable time, then donors should request it.

 Question 2:

 Is it inappropriate to list only a total amount given for the calendar year or must there will a statement with a record of each offering given?

 Answer 2:

 Please see my December 29, 2010, posting linked below:

 Review of Year-End Charitable Giving Reports by Churches

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Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2011 at 4:00 PM

    Is this to suggest that any amount under $250 does not require a receipt?

    Thanks for your Blog...I've found it very helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Corey PfaffeJanuary 29, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    For contributions less than $250, donors can use a cancelled check, for example, as documentation rather than the "contemporaneous, written acknowledgment of the contribution from the recipient organization" (Publication 1771) required for contributions of $250 or more. Most churches provide an annual summary or total to donors for their convenience, even if no individual contributions equaled or exceeded $250.

    ReplyDelete

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