Church contributions regularly fall within 4 categories: Cash, Noncash, Gifts, and Donated labor and Services.
One of the most exciting tasks for a church financial administrator is comprehension which category a church offering falls in and either to issue a church offering receipt or not. The 4 categories are:
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Cash : Can be a cash, check, or reputation card offering that comes in the offering or mail, it is a regular cash donation and will need a church offering receipt.
NonCash : A written receipt should be issued for all noncash contributions. Usually, your Church is not responsible for establishing the value of the non-cash items and should not include any value on the receipt. However, a new tax law adopted in 2004 requires extra documentation from your society for donations of powerful vehicles (including automobiles, boats, and airplanes). The rules are pretty detailed. If you need the exact instructions, you can research it on the Irs site.
Gifts : Usually, gifts to specific needy individuals are not thought about charitable contributions.
An example would be if a generous church member gives a needy personel in your church a join of bags of groceries, the church could not issue him a receipt for his nondeductible gift.
On the other hand, if a love offering is taken up for the needy personel (who does not supply services to the church), the contributors would be able to deduct their donations. Also, the benevolence aid is not thought about chargeable earnings to the needy individual.
Love gifts to pastors and employees fo the church are difficult to decree if they are charitable contributions or not, see my site for love offering guidelines.
Donated Labor and Services: The Irs does not permit a tax deduction for donated labor or services. However, a offering receipt may be issued for donated materials and other out-of-pocket expenses.
Say...a repairman voluntarily came and fixed your church's air conditioner. He regularly charges per hour for his labor and he spent for parts.
You can issue him a offering receipt for the parts; however, his labor is a generous non-deductible gift to the church. Also, he can deduct his mileage to the church and back if he itemizes on his personal taxes.
Un-reimbursed expenses that volunteers incur while performing their volunteer services can commonly be deducted from their personal tax return.
Examples of deductible items include mileage (at the current federal accepted mileage rate), travel and lodging, and meals incurred during travel which required an overnight stay.
Important note: If their volunteer's expenses exceed 0, they should receive a letter from your Church indicating the type of services they provided.
The letter should not include the value of the volunteer's expenses. The burden is upon the volunteer to prove their expenses.
In the United States, the Irs requires some items to be included on your Church offering receipt.
Starting August 18, 2006, a contributor may only deduct a donation by cash or check if the contributor has a receipt or bank report of the contribution.
Before that date, you could use your canceled check as documentation. However, in modern years the Irs has begun to crack down on deductible contributions.
Now all eligible church contributions must have proof of the deductions. As stated above that proof may be either a bank report or receipt.
The receipt must include:
- The organization's name,
- The donor's name
- The date of the donation,
- The amount.
An every year offering statement will satisfy this requirement for churches.
It should include the following wording: "You did not receive any goods or services in relationship with these contributions other than intangible religious benefits". The wording does not have to be word for word as the example, but must carry the same concept.
In summary, holding exact records of church contributions is imperative as they are the life blood of your Church.
Whether you use offering software, spreadsheets, or paper...understanding when to issue receipts and when not to, is knowledge every finance someone in your church should have.
Church Contributions - Know When to Issue a Church Receipt and What Must Be Included on That Receipt