- quote -

Why did it look like money you collected? Didn't you just
write your own check? Did you deposit a bunch of $10 checks
from your neighbors the same week?

- quote -

They're going to try tricks like that anyway.

- quote -

Did you check on how much of the money they got, and how
much they paid the solicitation firm?

Seth

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- quote -

No, but being 1500 miles away from my bank until the
following week (year) would be.

Seth

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sethb[at]panix.com (Seth Breidbart) wrote:

- quote -

Do you have a record of the loan, and a receipt showing that
this donation was made on your behalf to pay off the loan?
If not, it's your word against his -- he says he was making
a charitable contribution, you say he was paying you back.

I suppose the notation on the check saying that it should go
towards your account with the charity would weigh against
his claim. If he were actually making the donation for
himself, why would he write your account number on the
check?

--
Barry Margolin, barmar[at]alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***

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- quote -

In 06, I got a call from a charity, and said "yes". Somehow,
I got a package in the mail and was expected to solicit my
neighbors for donations. 8 neighbors, $80 goal. I wrote a
check for $100, and did not take a deduction as it looked
like money I collected. It was a lesson learned (A fast yes
on a call can get you into something you weren't expecting)
and as it was a good charity anyway, I just consider this a
done deal. Not worth it to try to explain how it 'was really
my money', even though it was, who can prove it, either way?
And every solicitor gets "please put me on do not call list"
before they start talking.

JOE

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- quote -

There's no income, I lent him the money last month.

Seth

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- quote -

The charity will send me the contribution letter, since
that's what he specified.

Seth

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- quote -

You take his check and deposit it in your bank AND you put
your check to the charity in the mail. Holiday weekends are
not a problem with clearing of checks.

Of course if it was a bet that caused him to owe you $200,
that's income to you and must be included in your income to
justify the deduction.

Dick
- I spent 11 years teaching Auditing. I educated bastards.

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- quote -

Furthermore, IRS since 2006 requires either a written
receipt from the charity or a bank record, meaning your bank
record, and not that of another person.

ChEAr$,
Harlan

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- quote -

No, but there IS time for me to write my own check (to be
paid next year of course), take it to the post office and
get it postmarked in time. That cements the deduction.

ChEAr$,
Harlan

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"Dick Adams" <rdadams[at]smart.net> wrote:
- quote -

durn it - I thought I was supposed to be the sarcastic
commentator here

___________________________________
<<< Benjamin Yazersky, CPA [NJ & NY] > > -----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx <-----

Moderator: ROTFLMAO

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- quote -

You could (in theory) take the deduction as long as you
claim the income.

Stu

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Herb Smith <12vta2787fbfia5[at]corp.supernews.com> wrote:

- quote -

It was his check, but not necessarily his funds.

Suppose he owed me $200 and I told him to send it to the
charity (in my name) instead of paying me. (Sure, I could
have him pay me and then I'd pay the charity; but it's Dec.
30 and there isn't enough time for all the checks to clear.)

Seth

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The OP ask about manipulating a charitable contribution so
that two different people could take deductions for it.
This reminded me of the following scenario that took place
in a church.

Collections were taken at each of five Sunday services.
Cash/checks were separated from their envelopes which were
given to a volunteer to enter parishioner donations into
the computer.

The new pastor ran totals on loose cash, envelope cash, and
loose cash and found that while total contributions remained
the same, loose cash was under by the same amount envelope
cash over.

He let his data entry volunteer go and refused to issue him
an annual receipt.

Dick

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wkhan299[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

Just think of other possibilities for similar double
dipping: Property taxes, medical expense, casualty loss,
etc, etc.

Of course, a consequence of such activity might well be to
spend some years in the slammer.

It is not a loophole. Taking advantage of loopholes is
perhaps sometimes immoral; but it is not illegal.

Bill

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wkhan299[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

You hit the nail on the head alright. Your friend cannot
use his checks for a double dipping deduction (DDD). I
hope he will not try to bamboozle either IRS and/or his own
tax preparer.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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wkhan...[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

The donation was made by your friend, not you - regardless
of whose number you wrote on the check. After all, it was
HIS check and HIS funds that were donated to this charity.
Even if the charity credits you, and sends a receipt to you,
they are wrong. They need to correct their verification
process.

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<wkhan299[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

No. Acknowledgement from the charity is not required for
all deductions, only those over $250. What is required for
all, effective 2007, is proof of payment via a bank record
or receipt from the charity.

- quote -

Forget for a moment what tax law requires. What charity
hoping to hear from the contributor in the future wouldn't
make sure it was sending the acknowledgement to the right
donor? I've processed contribution acknowlegements, and I'd
have been horrified if I sent one to the wrong person.

I don't know of any requirement for the charity to "police"
its donors. That said, one layman's definition of "ethical"
is behaving yourself when no one's looking. If I got a
check in the name of a donor I'd never heard of with a donor
ID number I had, I'd find out what's going on.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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wkhan...[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

Loopholes are not illegal so this is not a loophole.

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<wkhan299[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

I would call it fraud rather than a loophole.

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<wkhan299[at]gmail.com> wrote

- quote -

Let's see if I have this right. You are going to solicit
friends to make contributions to a charitable organization
and put your contributor ID number in the memo area of the
check. Thus, they have copies of their checks to support
charitable contribution deductions on their tas returns.
As a bonus, the charity sends you an annual givings receipt
to support your 'double pumping" of the deduction on your
tax return.

Read the above paragraph again and ask yourself "If I was
on the tax evasion jury hearing this case, how would I
vote?"

Let's see who loses here. The charity gets very bad PR in
the news media. Your friends lose a day or two at work so
they can be deposed and so they can testify at your trial.
Not only do you get fired, but you also get a punitive fine
and possibly a sabbatical in a federal slammer.

Your cost-benefit analysis should include attorney fees,
the personal costs of being audited on future returns, and
your highly likely inability to get another job with a
charitable organization.

If you do not involve your spouse in this, he/she can claim
"Innocent Spouse" status for the penalties, interest, and
back taxes you will owe.

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