The Tax Court recently sided with the IRS and disallowed a taxpayer’s charitable deduction to their church. The contributions were primarily made up of checks written to their church for amounts larger than $250. The church acknowledged its receipt of the contributions on a year-end statement to the taxpayers, but there was no language concerning whether any goods or services were provided in consideration for the contributions, as required by the IRS code.
Folks — make sure that if you donate $250 or more to a charity that you get a written acknowledgement of the contribution. Here’s what it HAS to specifically include:
- The amount of the cash and a description of any property other than cash
- Whether the donee organization provided any goods or services in consideration, in whole or in part, for any property donated
- A description and good faith estimate of the value of any goods or services received, or if such goods or services consist solely of intangible religious benefits, then it must state that.
