This quiz will test a person's knowledge on recording various types of donations.

According to IRS publication 1771 page 4, under the Recordkeeping Rules, subsection 'Requirement', the date and amount are both needed. While the IRS publication 1771 says the donor is responsible for this information, the church should have it on the donor statement so they can match it their records such as a bank record like a cancelled check or bank statement.

According to the IRS website donations that equal $250.00 or more need an written acknowledgement.

Please review the IRS instructions for the IRS Form 1098-C to see who must file.

There are three different statements that the church can used depending on the circumstances of the donations. When these statements are not made the IRS can disallow the donation. See the court case in 2012 that dealt with this issue -- David and Veronda Durden v. Comm’r, TC Memo 2012-140 May 17, 2012.

1. “No goods or services were provided by the church in return for the contribution.” Or
2. “Goods or services that the church provided in return for the contribution consisted entirely of intangible religious benefits.” Or
3. “The amount of the contribution that is deductible for federal income tax purposes is limited to the excess of
   money (and the fair market value of any property other than money) contributed by the donor over the value of goods or services provided by the church.”

The IRS form 8282 is to be filled out with 125 days of selling the property. The sold property has a three year limit on the reporting of it. Please review the form instructions for the 8282 to see all the requirements under the 'Who Must File' section.

According to IRS publication 1771, the value is never placed on the donor's statement - ie the written acknowledgment. This is the instructions about the information that should be on the donor's statement.
1. the name of organization
2. the amount of cash contribution,
3. a description (but not the value) of non-cash contribution,
4. a statement that no goods or services were provided by the organization in return for the
contribution, if that was the case,
5. a description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services, if any, that an
organization provided in return for the contribution,
6. a statement that goods or services, if any, that an organization provided in return for the contribution consisted entirely of intangible religious benefits, if that was the case.

According to IRS publication 526, page 21, donations that are equal to or over $5,000.00, a paid professional appraiser must be used and their written appraisal must be included with the donor's tax return.

This question falls under a quid pro quo donation. These are found in the IRS code section 6115.

As stated in the IRS publication 1771, the church must send a written acknowledgement (donor statement) to the donor for any one time contribution over $250.00.