Can I deduct the 520$ I donated to our church this year on my income taxes?

Question

The donations were actually 10$ a week for the year. Of course I have no receipts to show any of it.

Answer 1

If you are itemizing your deductions on the Schedule A rather than taking the Standard Deduction, you could claim deductions make to your church as a Charitable Contribution but You need to have proof of the contribution by way of either canceled checks or a receipt or documentation from the Church.

Contributions of $250 or More
You can claim a deduction for a contribution of $250 or more only if you have an acknowledgement of your contribution from the qualified organization or certain payroll deduction records.

If you made more than one contribution of $250 or more, you must have either a separate acknowledgement for each or one acknowledgement that shows your total contributions.

Acknowledgement. The acknowledgement must meet these tests.
It must be written.

It must include:

The amount of cash you contributed,

Whether the qualified organization gave you any goods or services as a result of your contribution (other than certain token items and membership benefits), and

A description and good faith estimate of the value of any goods or services described in (b). If the only benefit you received was an intangible religious benefit (such as admission to a religious ceremony) that generally is not sold in a commercial transaction outside the donative context, the acknowledgement must say so and does not need to describe or estimate the value of the benefit.

You must get it on or before the earlier of:

The date you file your return for the year you make the contribution, or

The due date, including extensions, for filing the return.


Publication 526
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/ar02.html#d0e3485

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Can I deduct the 520$ I donated to our church this year on my income taxes?
The donations were actually 10$ a week for the year. Of course I have no receipts to show any of it.

Answer 3

Your cash church donation may be deductible, if you are itemizing your deductions. If you are taking the standard deduction, the church donation is not deductible. For tax year 2006, you should have either receipts or a personal log of when and how much you gave. For more specific information, see the link to the IRS charitable deduction leaflet.

Answer 4

Receipts or canceled checks are required beginning for tax year 2007. If you are audited for 2006, you might have to convince the IRS that you made those contributions. I have kept a log of contributions for years, with the date, amount, and organization, which included all contributions: those by check as well as the small amounts. (This won't be enough anymore.) I wouldn't worry about being challenged on that 1 item. Of course, you need enough other deductions to get over the standard deduction to make it worth while.

Answer 5

Yes but only a small percentage and you'll have to do the long form and addendums, in other words forget about it. If you have some things to donate to a non profit thrift store they will give you a receipt for a really high value on stuff you might otherwise have thrown away as well. I'm speaking of a Salvation Army Store, or Vincent De Paul, Goodwill, something along those lines. This you can deduct as well.

Answer 6

If you plan to File the Schedule A (long form) you can itemize any number of things. However you must exceed the standard amounts . Single 5150 Head of Household 7450 MFJ 10300 for this year before you can itemize anything
Item s on the A are Medical (floor is 7.50% of AGI) , RE taxes , State Taxes , Mortgage Interest Points, Donations to charity 50% limit , Tax prep and Work related items

Answer 7

I'd still claim it, if I actually did pay it.

They're tightening up on a lot of that stuff right now, so in the future, you should either donate by check or request receipts from your church. Somehow, you need to be able to document it, and unfortunately, church donations are sadly one of the most common ways people skim a little extra on their taxes.

Read the attached link, especially page 16 about records. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf

It clearly states that paying weekly to the church counts as separate donations. Only single donations of $250 or more in one lump require a receipt.

As always, consulting a CPA is encouraged, as I am not one.

Answer 8

Only if you itemize on your tax return. You are required to have a canceled check, receipt, or reliable written record of EACH donation.

Answer 9

Absolutely. You only need receipts if you get audited, but the amount of tax on $520 is way smaller than the cost of the effort to get it out of you. Most people with contributions that small don't get audited unless something else brings their return to someone's attention.

Answer 10

You can attempt to deduct it. But unless your charitable contributions exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income ....... you basically gave the money away and won't see that deduction.

Found out the hard way a few years ago, which is why I no longer 'donate' money nor goods. Gave it all away, got not a dime in return.