Dave Woods, EA wrote:
- quote -

I noted that too. It seems clear cut to me: Any payment by
itself more than $250 - yes or no? If for all payments
where the answer is no, there is no such requirement.

- quote -

In the case I refer to, the payment amounts were stipulated.
Even stipulated amounts under $250 were disallowed by the
Court for not meeting the rule!

I just want to make certain that there's not another choice
to "the Court errored." I also want to make certain that
the regs. weren't ruled invalid by something I hadn't heard
about.... Thanks.

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"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw[at]bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote:

- quote -

I would need a cite of the case to do the correct research,
but from my gut, consider this - you make a $2,100 PLEDGE to
your church's building fund, agreeing to make 35 equal
payments of $60 because that is what fits in your budget.
Does this constitute 35 separate contributions of less than
$250 or a single contribution requiring the acknowledgment?

Gene E. Utterback, EA

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"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw[at]bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote:

- quote -

I took a look and didn't find any rulings on the matter.
Reg. 1.170A-13(f) (1) which you mentioned, seems to support
your opinion on the matter.

(f) Substantiation of charitable contributions of $250 or more--

(1) In general. No deduction is allowed under section 170(a)
for all or part of any contribution of $250 or more unless
the taxpayer substantiates the contribution with a
contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the donee
organization. A taxpayer who makes more than one
contribution of $250 or more to a donee organization in a
taxable year may substantiate the contributions with one or
more contemporaneous written acknowledgments. Section
170(f)(8) does not apply to a payment of $250 or more if the
amount contributed (as determined under Sec. 1.170A-1(h)) is
less than $250. Separate contributions of less than $250 are
not subject to the requirements of section 170(f)(8),
regardless of whether the sum of the contributions made by a
taxpayer to a donee organization during a taxable year
equals $250 or more.

Seems to me that the burden at that point is the normal
substantiation rules apply, and not the acknowledgement
rules therefore the cancelled checks should have been
sufficient. In other words, the court goofed.

--
David M. Woods, EA
Boston, MA 02109

Postings here are general information only and not to be
relied upon as advice.

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"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw[at]bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote:

- quote -

I agree with you completely. For example, say I go to
church and leave a $20 check in the collection plate each
week (ok assume someone ELSE does it). What this
effectively says is that you need an acknowledgement for
each check. Perhaps someone with more church going
experience than I can chime in here, but it seems to me to
be somewhat unrealistic to expect someone to go through that
effort.

--
David M. Woods, EA
Boston, MA 02109

Postings here are general information only and not to be
relied upon as advice.

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I thought that if a taxpayer paid to a charity several
payments during the year, he only needs to get an
acknowledgement where any SINGLE payment itself was $250 or
more. TR 1.170A-13(f) seems to confirm this (and so do the
1040 Schedule A instructions, starting as of 1994, although
they don't count).

However, today I learned of a recent Tax Court opinion that
seems to disallow a taxpayer's contribution IN AGGREGATE
(comprised of about 35 separate acts totalling about $2,100
to the same charity spread across a tax year) on the grounds
that the charity didn't acknowledge any of them.

I don't see where (when any individual payment is less than
$250) the $250 rule applies.

Has there been some ruling where the IRS or the Tax Court
can now aggregate separate payments across the year as one
payment if they are all to the same qualified charity? (Or
did the Court simply error?) If the Court is going to
invoke the rule, shouldn't it then only disallow the
unacknowledged payments over (or equal to) $250 and leave
the other payments to that charity alone?

[If you want to, you may also address the ethics of
disallowing a deduction by a donor where the RECIPIENT
doesn't comply with the law, but I'm not asking about the
"fairness" of the statute at this time.]

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