Louis E. Michelson, A Professional Corporation

Donors cannot claim a tax deduction for any single contribution of $250 or more unless the donors obtain a written acknowledgement from the charity.  The acknowledgment must be contemporaneous and can be sent via return e-mail when a donation is made.  Typically charities send these written acknowledgments no later than January 31^st of the year following the donation.  The donor must receive the acknowledgment by the earlier of the date on which the donor files his or her federal income tax return for the year of the contribution or the due date (with extensions) of the return.

 What should be included in the acknowledgement?  It should include the following information:

 1.      The name of the organization

2.      The amount of cash contributions

3.      Description (but not the value) of non-cash contributions

4.      A statement that no goods or services were provided by the charity in return for the donation

5.      A description and a good faith estimate of the value of the goods or services, if any, that the charity provided in return for the donation

 It is not necessary to include the tax identification number of the charity.

 An example of a written acknowledgement is:

 “Thank you for your generous cash contribution of $300 that Charity received on July 12, 2013.  We estimate that the fair market value of the meal provided to you in consideration for this gift was $50.”

 For more information, see the following link to IRS Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions – Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements.