Tithing paid 1/1/18

Hi,

A member of my ward paid her tithing online on Jan 1, 2018. She wants to see if it can be added to 2017?

Help.

Thanks,
Bro Wright
Carriage Hills Ward

No. This isn't a church thing - this is a "law of the land" thing. In the US, that would be a "IRS" thing.

If the on-line system shows she paid Jan 1 - she's stuck.

Note - this only affects her tax statement. The bishop has leeway in the tithing status department, but none whatsoever in the tax statement department.

ryanwrightbyu wrote:A member of my ward paid her tithing online on Jan 1, 2018. She wants to see if it can be added to 2017

According to U.S. tax rules, no. For 2017 credit, the donation must have been made no later than December 31, 2017. A donation that is mailed and was postmarked in 2017 also would count for 2017.

But she made this donation in 2018. It will be the first one listed on her receipt for this coming year.

If she had made the online donation on December 31, 2017, before midnight, it would have been added to last year, even though the Church would not have received the actual money until this year.

lajackson wrote:According to U.S. tax rules, no. For 2017 credit, the donation must have been made no later than December 31, 2017. A donation that is mailed and was postmarked in 2017 also would count for 2017.

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but I think it used to be you could hand it to a member of the bishopric before midnight and it would still count.

lajackson wrote:If she had made the online donation on December 31, 2017, before midnight, it would have been added to last year, even though the Church would not have received the actual money until this year.

Before midnight Mountain Time. The use of Mountain Time zone is explained in the Donation FAQs

russellhltn wrote:I'm not sure if it's still the case, but I think it used to be you could hand it to a member of the bishopric before midnight and it would still count.

I believe that is still the case. If someone hands their tithing to the authorized church representative before midnight on the last day of the year, they "paid" their tithing that year (even if it was not deposited until the next convenient Sunday). If they mail it and it is postmarked in the prior year, the same rule applies (even if the authorized church representative did not receive it in the mail until the following year).

If they do it online, the online date counts.

russellhltn wrote:I think it used to be you could hand it to a member of the bishopric before midnight and it would still count.

Still true. Some members like to turn in their envelopes at the New Year's Eve party. Or knock on the bishop's door at home just before midnight. I have personally seen both approaches.

The reason I qualified that, in a short search, I couldn't find any official verbiage to show that's still valid.

See the paragraph titled "Timing of Contributions" here:
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profi ... deductions

I believe the postmark rule applies because the IRS accepts a postmark as a valid submittal date for taxes, though I am not a tax professional.