Contribution Statements

[kappa14216]

Our Church calendar is from October-September (10/2006-9/2007).

If a member request a Contribution Statement for 2007 Tax purposes which dates will I use? January 1, 2007 - September 30, 2007 is only 9 months. Or, for 2007 tax purposes should I use contributions from 10/2006-9/2007 to include 12 months. This will be the first time I will be providing Contribution Statements and I'm confused.


Thanks

[adriennec]

Disclaimer: I'm not a CPA

That out of the way... an individual's tax year is on a calendar basis, from January - December. They don't have a fiscal year, as your church does. For 2007, people can deduct what they've given to the church from January 1 through December 31. You would generate a giving statement and specify 01/01/2007 - 12/31/2007.

My next task today will be explaining to a church member that she can't claim a deduction for a contribution she made on January 6 just because she jotted "put this in 2007 please" on the offering envelope...

Have a blessed day!

Adrienne C.
Word of Life Family Church
Burlington, NC

[NeilZ]

Disclaimer: I'm not a CPA

That out of the way... an individual's tax year is on a calendar basis, from January - December. They don't have a fiscal year, as your church does. For 2007, people can deduct what they've given to the church from January 1 through December 31. You would generate a giving statement and specify 01/01/2007 - 12/31/2007.

My next task today will be explaining to a church member that she can't claim a deduction for a contribution she made on January 6 just because she jotted "put this in 2007 please" on the offering envelope...

Have a blessed day!

Adrienne C.
Word of Life Family Church
Burlington, NC

Adrienne,

you hit the nail on the head perfectly.

FWIW ... what I'd tell the contributor is this:

"While we appreciate your note, the IRS requires us to credit any deductable amount in the year that it is given. "

What we ususally do to try to prevent such 'notes' is put a notice in the December church newsletter, and in the final three sunday church bulletins that basically says:

"Any contributions that are to be credited for the 2007 tax year must be delivered to the church office no later than close of business on Dec 31st."

Since the church office closes at noon on the 31st, we often found envelopes stuffed under the door when the office opened on the 2nd. In that case, we checked the check date, and if it said the 31st (even though it probably arrived on the 1st) we credited the contributor for the previous year.

[adriennec]

What we usually do to try to prevent such 'notes' is put a notice in the December church newsletter, and in the final three Sunday church bulletins

(nod) Announcements were made, but apparently were missed by this one contributor. I can gently explain IRS regulations to her if she calls with questions about her 2007 giving statement; it won't be a big problem with her.

We get envelopes tucked under the door on December 31 too. That's probably universal across all church/charitable organizations.