Year end tax statements

What is the extent of our obligation to get these statements in the hands of the members? We have usually printed all of them, handed most out to members who show up in January, mailed some out of town to those who we suspect will itemize, etc. Are we in violation of law if ALL of them are not either handed to the members or mailed out by 1/31/2009? It's a painful process, especially since I suspect a rather low % of ward members actually itemize.

Thanks for all reponses.

astropixel wrote:What is the extent of our obligation to get these statements in the hands of the members? We have usually printed all of them, handed most out to members who show up in January, mailed some out of town to those who we suspect will itemize, etc. Are we in violation of law if ALL of them are not either handed to the members or mailed out by 1/31/2009? It's a painful process, especially since I suspect a rather low % of ward members actually itemize.

The Church policies on this topic never mention the law (and I am in no position to comment on legal issues). They simply say what clerks should do. For example, the Tithing Settlement training lesson says:

... the clerk should print year-end tax-valid statements for all donors.... The clerk should deliver the tax-valid statements to donors by January thirty-first. If the donor has moved from the ward, the clerk should try to obtain the new address and mail the receipt.

You seem to be assuming that the requirement to distribute the statements is dependent only on whether the members itemize. But that assumption is not jusitified by any written policy of the Church. I would recommend that you follow the written policy and distribute the tax statements.

Check the training materials to be sure, but I think the obligation is to provide it when asked. I believe it to be a courtesy to be proactive in getting it in member's hands. However, if you are not proactive, you may end up with a bunch of urgent requests on the evening of April 14th.

I certainly can't remember any guidance or admonitions on how much effort we had to go to to get them handed out.

astropixel wrote:Are we in violation of law if ALL of them are not either handed to the members or mailed out by 1/31/2009?

Not in the US. If a person wishes to itemize charitable contributions, the IRS requires that a receipt be received before the return is filed. If a person asks an organization for a receipt, the organization must provide it.

There is no provision in the law for the organization to provide the receipt if the person does not ask for it, though most charitable organizations will, because they would like to have the donations continue.

By providing the tax statement, the Church avoids the possibility that a member will complain that a receipt was requested and not provided.

Other than that, just do the best you can.

Alan_Brown wrote:I would recommend that you follow the written policy and distribute the tax statements.

The retention of records document provided by the church (copy in post #4 here) states that you have to file away for a year the ones that can't be delivered, so deliver as many as you can and save valuable file space.

oregonmatt wrote:The retention of records document provided by the church (copy in post #4 here) states that you have to file away for a year the ones that can't be delivered, so deliver as many as you can and save valuable file space.

Personally, I would feel no obligation to keep hard copies of statements, as it is possible to print a new one from MLS for the duration of the retention period.

Also, I have no real authority to make any official statement regarding what is 'legal." But based on my experience donating to multiple charitable organizations, there is no requirement by the IRS to submit receipts with one's tax return. They are only for one's personal records in case they are audited. And I have been told by other organizations that a copy of my canceled check would suffice.

astropixel wrote:What is the extent of our obligation to get these statements in the hands of the members? We have usually printed all of them, handed most out to members who show up in January, mailed some out of town to those who we suspect will itemize, etc. Are we in violation of law if ALL of them are not either handed to the members or mailed out by 1/31/2009? It's a painful process, especially since I suspect a rather low % of ward members actually itemize.

Thanks for all reponses.

I will agree with you that it is a painful process to somehow deliver the statements to members. Last year (my first tithing season experience) I couldn't figure out an efficient method to deliver the statements...a logistical nightmare and a time consuming one at that! An announcement was made during Sacrament meeting that the year end tithing statements could be picked up in the clerk's office. I tried to deliver some to members during Sunday services but not everyone on my delivery list was present...remember there are only so many Sundays in January and I felt the urgency to get them delivered by January 31st. I finally asked the Bishop if he would like me to mail the statements to the donors. He did not want to pay the cost of mailing and told me that if the members wanted their statement they should request them at the clerk's office. I am quite sure that this same process will happen again during this month.

As long as you get the Official Year End Tax Statement printed (I would suggest you use Church/Ward letterhead paper) and have the Bishop sign (this is REQUIRED) each one just try to find or use a method that will attempt to get these statements to the donors. I had very few members that actually picked them up...the rest I just filed away to retain for at least one year in case someone comes back to request their statement. Hope this helps.

Greggo wrote:But based on my experience donating to multiple charitable organizations, there is no requirement by the IRS to submit receipts with one's tax return. They are only for one's personal records in case they are audited. And I have been told by other organizations that a copy of my canceled check would suffice.

Your canceled check is good up to $250, then you need a receipt. You are correct that you do not have to have the receipt unless you are audited. But, if you are audited and do not have a receipt dated no later than the date you filed the return, your contribution will not be allowed. US IRS rules.

That is as far as I will go with the IRS advice in this forum. The Church has designed the rules for printing and handing out the forms so that they comply with IRS regulations. Both the Church and the member benefit when the proper Church procedures are followed. There is the possibility of monetary damage to either or both the Church and the member if the procedures are not followed.

Print the receipts on letterhead and have the bishop sign them. Make them available to the members. Store the rest of them for a year.

The following from IRS.gov may explain why many members aren't concerned with getting the statement:

In figuring whether a gift is $250 or more, do not combine separate donations. For example, if you gave your church $25 each week for a total of $1,300, treat each $25 payment as a separate gift.

So if you really want to, you could scan over the denotation amounts and see if any are over $250. Those are the folks that could really benefit from the statement.

That said, follow the materials and the training. Take a clue from the level of concern in the instructions. Do what you can, but don't think that you're going to jail if you fail to get it done.

I'd say make an effort to be available for the members, but ultimately it's up to them to make sure they get it.

For those interested, see IRS Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions–Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements.

A donor must receive the acknowledgment of the donation by the earlier of: the date on which the donor actually files his or her individual federal income tax return for the year of the contribution; or the due date (including extensions) of the return.

DavidForthoffer wrote:For those interested, see IRS Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions–Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements.

A donor must receive the acknowledgment of the donation by the earlier of: the date on which the donor actually files his or her individual federal income tax return for the year of the contribution; or the due date (including extensions) of the return.

This is good for the U.S. only. Users in other countries must comply with their country's tax laws.

We don't know for sure. There have been no messages sent out to confirm they are going to do this.

Even if CHQ sends a tax-valid statement to members who have made contributions in more than one unit during the year, the requirement for units to send them out for members who have moved out has not been rescinded.

jdlessley wrote:We don't know for sure. There have been no messages sent out to confirm they are going to do this.

Even if CHQ sends a tax-valid statement to members who have made contributions in more than one unit during the year, the requirement for units to send them out for members who have moved out has not been rescinded.

Ok, but how do we get the addresses for these donors? MLS shows paritial address for them, but not City, State and zip code so we can mail them out. They also don't seem to show up in a "Print Mailing Labels" type of menu. Any suggestions?

slgray500 wrote:

jdlessley wrote:...the requirement for units to send them out for members who have moved out has not been rescinded.

Ok, but how do we get the addresses for these donors? MLS shows paritial address for them, but not City, State and zip code so we can mail them out.

The post you quoted from jdlessley overstates the requirement a bit. It's not your obligation to get addresses for donors who did not give you addresses. According to the MLS Software Manual, page A-10:

6. Donors who are not members of the ward. Do not complete the tithing status. Deliver or mail statements to those you have addresses for. Keep the rest for one year in case donors ask for them.

slgray500 wrote:They also don't seem to show up in a "Print Mailing Labels" type of menu.

All donors will appear in the Print Mailing Labels option if you select that option from a donor list, such as Print Donor Statements. But donors who have no address in the system will clearly not have an address listed, even if the donor name does appear.

Do you print out and deliver tax statements for little children? If you have a family with 8 little children who donate to tithing during the year, do we need to print, have the bishop sign and then deliver statements to them, or just for the parents? I'm not referring to teens with regular jobs or other minors who might have a substantial income. Can, or do, parents report charitable contributions by their dependants?
Thanks,
Alan

funaddict wrote:Do you print out and deliver tax statements for little children? If you have a family with 8 little children who donate to tithing during the year, do we need to print, have the bishop sign and then deliver statements to them, or just for the parents? I'm not referring to teens with regular jobs or other minors who might have a substantial income. Can, or do, parents report charitable contributions by their dependants?
Thanks,
Alan

I don't think we need to worry about what they might do with the forms once received. We are simply asked to deliver them. And yes, that includes children who have donated.

Right or wrong, I've taken a different approach in the past and only printed those that I thought were needed (anything to lesson the burden on the bishop), and it never caused an issue. I figured those who wanted all their children's statements would ask for them.

greggo wrote:Right or wrong, I've taken a different approach in the past and only printed those that I thought were needed (anything to lesson the burden on the bishop), and it never caused an issue. I figured those who wanted all their children's statements would ask for them.

I don't see how you can possibly know for certain whether a child might need such a statement, unless the parents specifically told you not to deliver such a statement. In the absence of such a specific request, the instructions are clear: "Each donor should also be given a year-end tax-valid statement after the year ends" (emphasis added). I see no justification for a clerk to make assumptions contrary to those specific instructions.

In trying to get the addresses for moved members it is interesting that the year to date donation summary page shows the members' new street address but not the city and state. Can this info be obtained somehow?

Miknmaur wrote:In trying to get the addresses for moved members it is interesting that the year to date donation summary page shows the members' new street address but not the city and state. Can this info be obtained somehow?

From the YTD summary page, go to File>Print Mailing Labels. It will bring up the option to print a mailing label for anyone on the YTD summary list. Select the donors you want, and print off the labels.

Miknmaur wrote:In trying to get the addresses for moved members it is interesting that the year to date donation summary page shows the members' new street address but not the city and state. Can this info be obtained somehow?

I was able to find current addresses for members who moved out of the ward by going to the Add/Update Donors --> File --> Print mailing labels.

So I pay my tithing through my bank's "online bill pay" feature. I am not sure how widespread the use of this service is, but it is very convenient while living in Europe the past couple of years. The only problem is that it does not show up in my home branch (MLS) that I have paid one cent in tithing this year. Due to this I can't get my tax statement. Does anybody know if there is a feature to print it off from LDS.org? Any other ideas? Thanks.

colbyprk wrote:So I pay my tithing through my bank's "online bill pay" feature. I am not sure how widespread the use of this service is, but it is very convenient while living in Europe the past couple of years. The only problem is that it does not show up in my home branch (MLS) that I have paid one cent in tithing this year. Due to this I can't get my tax statement. Does anybody know if there is a feature to print it off from LDS.org? Any other ideas? Thanks.

Each unit that you make any donations to has a separate responsibility for giving you a tax statement. No unit knows about what any other unit has received. For purposes of this discussion, the word "unit" could mean an area office, or CHQ, in addition to wards or branches.

It's not clear to me what unit you sent your online BillPay payments to, but whoever that was, you need to ask them for the receipt. Your home branch will not be able to give you a receipt for money they did not receive, and there is no feature on lds.org for printing any receipts.