This quiz will test a person's knowledge on recording various types of donations.

According to the IRS website donations that equal $250.00 or more need an written acknowledgement.

According to IRS publication 1771, the value is never placed on the donor's statement - ie the written acknowledgment. This is the instructions about the information that should be on the donor's statement.
1. the name of organization
2. the amount of cash contribution,
3. a description (but not the value) of non-cash contribution,
4. a statement that no goods or services were provided by the organization in return for the
contribution, if that was the case,
5. a description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services, if any, that an
organization provided in return for the contribution,
6. a statement that goods or services, if any, that an organization provided in return for the contribution consisted entirely of intangible religious benefits, if that was the case.

Please review the IRS instructions for the IRS Form 1098-C to see who must file.

There are three different statements that the church can used depending on the circumstances of the donations. When these statements are not made the IRS can disallow the donation. See the court case in 2012 that dealt with this issue -- David and Veronda Durden v. Comm’r, TC Memo 2012-140 May 17, 2012.

1. “No goods or services were provided by the church in return for the contribution.” Or
2. “Goods or services that the church provided in return for the contribution consisted entirely of intangible religious benefits.” Or
3. “The amount of the contribution that is deductible for federal income tax purposes is limited to the excess of
   money (and the fair market value of any property other than money) contributed by the donor over the value of goods or services provided by the church.”

When stocks are donated directly to the church instead of cash, the donor does not pay any 'capital gains tax' on the stocks. If the stocks appreciated a lot and the donor is in a top tax bracket, this translates to a 37% tax savings as of tax year 2020. And all the stock appreciation goes to the church. Avoiding the capital gains tax only works on stocks that are owned for at least one year. Keep in mind the more the church can advise donors on their giving options and how they benefit the donor the more the church could receive in donations.

A volunteer can't deduct their time and services. However an attorney can ask for a GIK donation statement for things like travel expenses for the attorney to come and meet with your organization. Or say for all the cost of mailings to your organization. In other words the expenses have to be documented and not just a 'service' or 'time'. There are a lot of rules on this that the churches should review before giving out any donation statements to any volunteers.

According to the IRS instructions for the 1098-C, the donor must figure out the amount for the donated item (ie car, plane, and boat). This is atypical because most gifts in kind (GIK) can be donated without knowing the value. Most GIK's don't require a 30 day reporting period.

The IRS Form 1098-C is what you use to for a qualified vehicle over 500.00.

According to IRS publication 1771 page 4, under the Recordkeeping Rules, subsection 'Requirement', the date and amount are both needed. While the IRS publication 1771 says the donor is responsible for this information, the church should have it on the donor statement so they can match it their records such as a bank record like a cancelled check or bank statement.

The IRS's basic rule is that the gift must be delivered to the church by December 31st. For USPS they use the postmarked date as the delivery date, whether or not the donation envelope is physically delivered to the church.