Documentation of Food Bank Donations

[Deleted]

I'm going to be more careful than usual with our taxes this year; our charitable deductions have always been high relative to the averages but in addition I threw our entire 2015 church pledge into a Donor-Advised charitable fund at Fidelity in late 2014 to get the deduction in 2014 since I retired mid-2014 and we'll be in a lower tax bracket this year.  (The church will get paid quarterly by Fidelity.)  We also have very high medical/dental deductions.

Anyway- DH and I have always made it a habit to buy $10-$15 of food for the local food bank in our weekly shopping.  We take it to church on Sunday and some church members periodically pick up donations and take them to the food bank downtown.  So, I can't get a nice, clean receipt from the food bank.  They get a whole load of donations mingled together. 

Up to now, DH and I have been saving grocery receipts and marking off which items are donated, but it's a whole lotta paper and, frankly, could be faked.  Anyone could mark 3 cans of soup as donations and then put them in their own pantry. 

What's the best way to document this to the satisfaction of the IRS?  Or is it even necessary since it's a small % of our charitable giving and the rest is well-documented?

Thanks.

[taxref]

These are non-cash contributions.  Since the total of your non-cash contributions will be over $500, you will need to complete Form 8283 with your tax return.  

Certainly keep the receipts you have marked with the donated goods.  Since the rest of your donations are well documented, and this amount is small, I would take the deduction.  If you are audited and the agent feels you do not have enough proof, the amount of any adjustment will be rather small.

For future donations, I would speak to someone at the church about getting a receipt.  If you can just type up a list of what you donate (for example, 10 cans of food, etc.), and have someone from your church sign and date it when you drop it off, that would work.

[Deleted]

Thanks! I agree that the impact if the agent disallows the deduction is pretty small. I may go th receipt route, though, just to be safe.