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| Author |
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| 25 new of 115 responses total. |
keesan
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response 70 of 115:
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Feb 14 23:46 UTC 1999 |
SInce only 4 people requested receipts from Mark, it would seem to be a lot
less waste of his time to send out receipts to only people who request them
instead of to 23 people (five hours, by his count). Rane, how do you know
that receipts are not required for the nonprofit?
I would not necessarily trust the woman who insisted that they are
essential. I lent money to another nonprofit, which was told by its lawyer
who specialized in nonprofits (he said) that they absolutely had to pay me
interest on the loan, and if they did not, I would still have to pay income
tax on the imputed interest. This sounded fishy to me, so I called the IRS
and they said of course not, loans to nonprofits did not have imputed
interest. So I would not go by what someone says even if they are adamant,
without some sort of written proof (some govt. document about nonprofits nad
receipts) or at least the name of the IRS advisor giving me the info.
And probably a written statement from them as well.
The library accepts my donated books but has never yet insisted on giving me
a receipt. I have to ask for them, I don't think they even routinely offer.
Usually I wait until the end of the year, after keeping my own count, and fill
in the amount myself. Same for Kiwanis (the year I itemized).
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devnull
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response 71 of 115:
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Feb 14 23:56 UTC 1999 |
Am I one of the four who wanted a receipt? (I actually specified that I
wanted whatever I need to take a deduction; now that I've seen the rules
more clearly, I'm happy relying on the canceled check.)
Next time around, I probably won't have any reason to itemize.
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keesan
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response 72 of 115:
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Feb 15 01:14 UTC 1999 |
Make that three people who think they needed a paper receipt.
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rcurl
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response 73 of 115:
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Feb 15 05:20 UTC 1999 |
As I said before, paper receipts are sent my most non-profits as public
relations tools, usually including some other information about the
organization and suggesting further donations if possibe (of $10____,
$20____, $50____, $100____, Other____), and along with the message they
send the receipt. (We just donated some old vacuum cleaners to the
PTO Thrift Shop, and they gave us a receipt without our asking saying
what we donated, and including a note that we would have to set "fair
market value" on the items for tax purposes.)
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scott
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response 74 of 115:
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Feb 15 12:05 UTC 1999 |
I would have requested a receipt, had one not automatically arrived.
It is rather fishy to be counting things without taking into account all
variables, like those people who didn't request because they didn't have to.
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davel
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response 75 of 115:
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Feb 15 12:19 UTC 1999 |
I suspect that reading & responding to this item has taken more of Mark's time
than sending out a lot of receipts, though I could be wrong. Think of all
the wasted electrons, too.
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aruba
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response 76 of 115:
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Feb 15 14:16 UTC 1999 |
My thoughts exactly, Dave.
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pfv
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response 77 of 115:
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Feb 15 15:20 UTC 1999 |
Ditto.
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rcurl
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response 78 of 115:
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Feb 15 17:25 UTC 1999 |
Electrons are conserved, Dave. They do generate more heat than light, but
they are never nicked, scatched or abraided along the way.
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keesan
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response 79 of 115:
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Feb 17 15:49 UTC 1999 |
Since the board will reconsider receipts, I made a few more calls. NEW center
library is not there until 11. American Lung always sends receipts but they
don't know if it is required.
Call United Way and talked to Dennis O'Brien of financial and
information services. (He was interested to hear about grex, has not used
the internet and thought he needed an ISP. He may call us for a modem and
help signing on to grex.) He has worked in the non-profit donations field
for 30 years, previously at Child and Family Services and at Cathlic Family
Services. United Way is the most complicated because people donate not only
by check, but from their pay. They can use paystubs combined with a pledge
cardd for proof of donating, or cancelled checks if they donate that way.
United Way gets thousands of donations a year and never mails out a letter
of receipt to anyone donating under $250. For donors over $250, he had never
heard that the nonprofit is required to mail receipts, but he knows that the
donors need receipts if they itemize on federal taxes, so they automatically
send out receipts to donors of $250 or more.
Other donors who wish to itemize are only required by the IRS to save
a cancelled check. DOnors of $250 get a letter stating that they received
no goods or services for their donation, which letter is required if you
itemize, but the organization is not required to send it if you don't ask for
it (They send them anyway).
He repeated several times that United Way only sends receipts for $250
or more, and that he has never heard of any law requiring any nonprofits to
send receipts for any size donations, they just send them out for large
amounts anyway on the assumption that donors will want the receipts.
I therefore propose that the grex treasurer continue to send out email
receipts for donations of any size, and that these email receipts mention that
a paper receipt is available upon request, but that the IRS accepts cancelled
checks as proof of donations of amounts under $250.
You may confirm this information with Dennis at the United Way in Ann
Arbor. He does not know how to join coop conference (yet).
If the treasurer wants to follow United Way policy and send out a paper
receipt to anyone who donates $250 or over in one year, whether or not they
request it, I will not object. (BUt I will be sure never to donate $250).
If anyone wants they can call the NEW center reference librarian after
11 am to cross-check this information. Dennis O'Brien said that if he was
required to mail everyone who donated a paper receipt, he would have quit the
nonprofit business long ago, and that the IRS made their $250 rule to save
the nonprofits from wasting their donations by spending them on postage and
paper (and the treasurer's time). He was surprised at our low budget.
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rcurl
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response 80 of 115:
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Feb 17 17:59 UTC 1999 |
The above information, apart from United Way's optional practices, has
been set down here by several people. I think you will get the same story
from everyone (or, should!).
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aruba
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response 81 of 115:
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Feb 18 02:03 UTC 1999 |
Well, no, clearly we didn't get the same story from Ms. Dodea.
That sounds like pretty good info, Sindi, thanks for accumulating it.
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rcurl
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response 82 of 115:
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Feb 18 05:58 UTC 1999 |
I did say "here by several people". Ms. Dodea isn't here. I sometimes
see "no person is a prophet in their own country" in operation here.
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keesan
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response 83 of 115:
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Feb 18 19:46 UTC 1999 |
Is it possible to ask Ms. Dodea where she got her information? Some of the
places I called said they considered it good practice (but certainly not
mandatory) to send receipts for donations, but not for legal reasons, only
for reasons of publicity. Maybe that is what Ms. Dodea was adamant about?
If she cannot point to any law requiring receipts, must we send them?
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aruba
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response 84 of 115:
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Feb 18 20:35 UTC 1999 |
You are welcome to call R. Sue Dodea and ask her, Sindi - I'll e-mail you her
number.
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aruba
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response 85 of 115:
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Feb 18 21:19 UTC 1999 |
Re #82: I wasn't aware you put much stock in prophecy, Rane. :)
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srw
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response 86 of 115:
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Feb 18 23:16 UTC 1999 |
Perhaps Ms. Dodea was trying to make it clear that email receipts are
useless, and cannot be used as proof of anything. For that reason, all
receipts that are to be used for income tax purposes MUST be mailed.
That said, there is still no need to send out any such recipts unless
they are over $249, because only then does the IRS require such a
receipt.
I would propose this policy, slightly different from our current policy:
(1) Send out receipts for any individual donation of $250 or more.
(These are rare, but required by the IRS.)
(2) Always send out email acknowledgement and thanks for any donation,
including membership. This is for public-relations purposes only.
Also include an offer to send a paper receipt upon request.
(3) Honor requests for paper receipts.
It's actually pretty close to what we do now. the main difference is
that it would cut down on unnecessary paper receipts between $75 and
%249. I am one who received such an unnecessary and unrequested receipt.
It didn't upset me too much, but it was a bit of a waste because I
didn't need it.
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rcurl
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response 87 of 115:
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Feb 19 06:12 UTC 1999 |
It's a parable, which is a form of metaphor. I go for metaphors.
Slight correction, Steve. The IRS only requires that receipt for donations
of $250-up *if the donor wishes to deduct*. The $250 limit then controls
what the receipt must say. But, I'm part of the school that says send
receipts for every donation except dues (because the corporation has a
formal list of members, which can be used as proof). If it is such a
burden on people to receive an unwanted receipt - how about sending a nice
Grex decal with it, as a "thank you"?
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keesan
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response 88 of 115:
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Feb 19 07:03 UTC 1999 |
Why send paper receipts when email ones are already being sent? They waste
materials and time. Are there any nonmembers donating money?
I think Grex decals are also a waste of resources and would be annoyed to
receive one. I have no use for decals. I am supporting an organization that
makes it possible to communicate without paper
I will call Ms. Dodea if other grexers do not believe the person from United
Way. Let me know.
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scg
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response 89 of 115:
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Feb 19 07:17 UTC 1999 |
E-mail, being plain text, would be much easier to alter without leaving a
trace than a paper receipt would. E-mail as proof of anything is fairly
worthless.
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keesan
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response 90 of 115:
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Feb 19 21:07 UTC 1999 |
From null@irs.gov Fri Feb 19 16:03:29 1999
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 09:44:59 -0800
From: null@irs.gov
To: keesan@cyberspace.org
Subject: IRS Email Tax Law Assistance
NOTE: Our response to your tax law question appears below. If you
have additional questions on this or any other general tax law topic,
you must post it to our web site at:
(http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/help/newmail/user.html. We are not able
to receive E-mail messages directly from our customers because of current
limitations to our system.
Thank you for your question. The only requirements are the donor is
responsible for requesting and obtaining the written acknowledgement
form the donee to get a statement from the organization of any
contributions of $250 or more. Publication 1771, Charitable
Contributions--Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements discusses this issue
if you wish to download it form our website at www.irs.ustreas.gov. Please
contact us again if you have any other questions. Mrs. Fahlund 1-800-829-1040
Your Question Was:
Question about 501(c)3 organization. OUr local computer conferencing
group recently became 501(c)3. It is a volunteer organization free
to everyone but survives on donations to cover operating expenses (rent
and utilities and equipment). Are 501(c)3 organization absolutely
required to mail out paper receipts for every donation, as we were told
by a nonprofit advisor? Easter Seals does not and did not think there
was a rule. Most of our donations are under $73 (annual membership
donation is $72) so the board voted as a compromise to mail receipts to
the 23 out of 84 members who donated over $74 in one year. Most of
us do not itemize taxes and have no use for receipts, in addition to
which you don t need a receipt for amounts under $250. The treasurer
wasted five hours of his volunteer time and some paper and postage that
came out of the donations to send out 23 receipts when only 4 people
requested them. (I specifically requested no receipt but got on
anyway). Please tell us if there is some law that requires a 501(c)3
organization to mail paper receipts to all donors whether or not the donor
wants a receipt. ALl donors are already emailed a personal receipt
notice and thank you. Only one donor last year donated more than $249
(a ten year membership). If you do not know the answers, which I could
not find online in one hour, please tell me where to go to ask this
question. I cannot believe that an organization is required to mail
out pieces of paper to people who have no use for them and do not want
them. Other nonprofits said they mail receipts upon request and had
never heard of any law that says you must mail receipts. I called the
National Charities Bureaus which never called back. Is there some
publication I could read that would contain the answer? Cynthia Keesan
To access IRS information on-demand, 24 hours a day, point your
browser to our web site at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/.
Here's a tip for navigating the IRS homepage. Use the "search"
button at the bottom of the web page. Enter key words or phrases when
the entry box comes up. It could help you find your answer immediately.
Finally, because we're interested in your opinion and providing
the best possible service, please take a moment to answer our very short
survey at: http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/help/newmail/email-survey.html
IDENTIFIER: irsmsr3 |#166317
Does this settle the question? The IRS knows of no law requiring donees to
provide written receipts for any donations, as I read the above, but the donor
is required to provide a written proof if itemizing donations over $249.
I hope that the board will do a revote and only send paper receipts to people
who request them, after sending out email receipts letting them know that
their donation was received and appreciated, and that paper receipts are not
required for itemizing on Federal income tax for amounts under $249 but will
be supplied to anyone who requests one.
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rcurl
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response 91 of 115:
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Feb 19 21:43 UTC 1999 |
That conflicts with the instructions for 1040, which says donors need to
be able to substantiate all donations.
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scg
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response 92 of 115:
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Feb 20 00:56 UTC 1999 |
Also, I believe that the IRS says that their answers on tax law are not
authoratitive, and that you need to contact a tax attorney instead of the IRS
if you want an authoratitive answer.
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rcurl
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response 93 of 115:
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Feb 20 05:07 UTC 1999 |
I suspect that in part unclear answers are given to unclear questions. There
are so many parameters about deductible contributions that it takes pages
to explain them even roughly. The IRS answer saying consult publication
so-and-so was the best answer. Form 1040 are a poor person's substitute,
especially for such ridiculously small amounts of money are are being
discussed here. I save all my receipt for travel on behalf of non-profits,
which are deductible expenses, and I *know* someone that was audited and
had to produce their receipts for toll road tolls, etc, to get the
deduction (I think it was just a test to see if the person had at least
some of such receipt related to the claimed expenses).
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pfv
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response 94 of 115:
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Feb 20 05:16 UTC 1999 |
Trusting in IRS answers is always a mistake: folks that have done
so were dragged into court - and LOST EVERY TIME..
The IRS is totally irresponsible: they do not have to tell the
truth; their "truth" can change in a heartbeat; and through it
all, the citizen is held responsible..
If you don't *KNOW* - that is, can win in any court - document the
hell out of EVERYTHING.
Does this need to be discussed further? Really?
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