IRS Recordkeeping Requirements

[Graham]

Hi folks, I'm heavily involved in ministry in my own church but now our Pastor has decided that anyone involved in any kind of ministry within the church MUST take envelopes. I've never used this means of giving within Gods work and was bitterly disappointed with this ruling. However after much reasoning with him on this subject he has asked me now just to fill in an amount on a form and sign it ..... and that would be OK ?
Surely government wouldn't just trust what I say that I gave into the church yearly without valid proof ? Does anyone know what the proper legal stance on this is ? Thx Graham

[NeilZ]

Hi folks, I'm heavily involved in ministry in my own church but now our Pastor has decided that anyone involved in any kind of ministry within the church MUST take envelopes. I've never used this means of giving within Gods work and was bitterly disappointed with this ruling. However after much reasoning with him on this subject he has asked me now just to fill in an amount on a form and sign it ..... and that would be OK ?
Surely government wouldn't just trust what I say that I gave into the church yearly without valid proof ? Does anyone know what the proper legal stance on this is ? Thx Graham

While this has nothing to do with Powerchurch or how its used, the Pastor is correct, the IRS since 2007 requires certain recordkeeping requirements:

From IRS PUB 1828:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recordkeeping Rules
A donor cannot claim a tax deduction for any contribution of cash, a check or other monetary gift made on or after January
1, 2007 unless the donor maintains a record of the contribution in the form of either a bank record (such as a cancelled check)
or a written communication from the charity (such as a receipt or a letter) showing the name of the charity, the date of the
contribution, and the amount of the contribution.

Substantiation Rules
A donor cannot claim a tax deduction for any single contribution of $250 or more unless the donor obtains a contemporaneous, written acknowledgment of the contribution from the recipient church or religious organization. A church or religious organization that does not acknowledge a contribution incurs no penalty; but without a written acknowledgment, the donor cannot claim a tax deduction. Although it is a donor’s responsibility to obtain a written acknowledgment, a church or religious oganization can assist the donor by providing a timely, written statement containing the following information:

- name of the church or religious organization,
- date of the contribution,
- amount of any cash contribution, and
- description (but not the value) of non-cash contributions.

In addition, the timely, written statement must contain one of the following:

- statement that no goods or services were provided by the church or religious organization in return for the contribution,
- statement that goods or services that a church or religious organization provided in return for the contribution consisted
entirely of intangible religious benefits, or
- description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services other than intangible religious benefits that the church
or religious organization provided in return for the contribution.

The church or religious organization may either provide separate acknowledgments for each single contribution of $250 or more or one acknowledgment to substantiate several single contributions of $250 or more. Separate contributions are not aggregated for purposes of measuring the $250 threshold.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thus if you only give cash in the plate, you cannot use that as a tax deduction unless the church gives you a contributions statement. If you give $250 or more a month, you have to have a contributions statement from the church.

The Pastor is actually trying to make sure you don't lose your deduction, if you're eligible. Your signing a pledge or faith giving statement does NOTqualify at all. The church has to provide you with a printed form showing the dates & times of the contributions.

FWIW .. this is how it is done in the MAJORITY of churches.