Canceled checks as proof of church donations

[curiousgeorge]

Church does not give tax statements for non-registered parishioners.  Would 'canceled checks' be sufficient as proof of church donations? (Note:  Not really actual canceled checks but copies that can be printed from online bank statements.)
Thanks.

[taz157]

Yes.

[zibazinski]

I don't get my canceled checks and because I am not a member, I don't get statements either. But I still deduct it because I can prove it if audited.

[Deleted]

Jan 20, 2016 14:41:14 GMT -5 curiousgeorge said:

Church does not give tax statements for non-registered parishioners.  Would 'canceled checks' be sufficient as proof of church donations? (Note:  Not really actual canceled checks but copies that can be printed from online bank statements.)
Thanks.

That is a really silly policy on their part. Why would you continue to donate to someone that won't do a simple business transaction.

[zibazinski]

I don't want to be on their mailing list because I don't know if that's the church I'll keep attending. Once they have your info, it's non stop contacting which is why I cross off my address on my checks when I donate to any charity. They also sell your address. Not the churches but the charities do.

[TheOtherMe]

I am a church secretary.  We send letters of donations to everybody that donated that we have an address on.  Even if it was $5.  We don't care if you are a member or not.

For those that there is no address, I google for the information.  Found all but one this year. 

We do not add people to our mailing list unless they keep attending on a regular basis.  If they stop coming, we drop them.  Costs money to send out the monthly newsletter and money is not something we have a lot of.

[resolution]

That seems like a foolish policy. I would donate to a different organization if my church refused to give me a tax statement for a stupid reason.

[irishpad]

We send year end statements to registered parishioners.   Each month send a receipt / thank you letter for any donations to non-registered donors.   If an address isn't provided, we don't search for it unless the donation is over a certain threshold ($250 I think) where we are obligated to issue a statement.   If people are wanting some level of anonymity, we want to respect that.   

[Deleted]

I think you need a letter of it's over $500. That gives you proof that no material benefit was received (e.g. It wasn't payment to go on a church-sponsored bus trip to Branson).

If the amount is substantial, I'd send copies to the church office and ask for a receipt. If it's a few hundred &$, I'd just deduct it. I'm 62, have taken large (legitimate) charitable deductions for years, and haven't been audited yet.

[taxref]

"Would 'canceled checks' be sufficient as proof of church donations?"


Generally speaking, the answer is yes.  If you make a large dollar amount of contributions for the year, however, the answer could switch to no.  

When looking at church donations, auditors look for non-deductible costs paid to the church.  The most common among those non-deductible costs is church school tuition.  Consequently, if one has a few thousand in church contributions for the year, the auditor may ask for verification that none was for tuition.  A detailed annual giving statement from the church will easily meet that requirement.   

[TheOtherMe]

We have farmers that donate $7K or $8K a year and we don't have a private school.  Pretty much everything received is a donation.