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Stewardship Tip
The Pension Protection Act of 2006
amended the tax code to require all cash contributions,
regardless of amount, to be substantiated by either a
bank record (such as a cancelled check) or a
written communication from the church. Therefore, no cash
contribution deductions will be allowed without a
receipt from the charity/church. What a great way to
encourage members to use their offering envelopes and
maybe they will become regular contributors. Also
when the church provides a detailed quarterly or annual
summary of offerings, contributions usually increase.
Quarterly reminders of giving for your members are worth
the time and cost investment!
New tax laws
Last year the 2006 Pension Protection
act was passed by Congress. A summary of those
laws and how they affect churches are online at
www.nacba.net/Article/NewTaxLaw.htm.
The change that affects church treasurers is the record
keeping requirement necessary to claim the charitable
deduction for contributors. As a result of the new
law, churches must virtually receipt every donation
including cash.
Tightened rules in 2007
for deduction of charitable contributions
A change that was legislated last
fall as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 will
have an impact on CASH contributions in 2007.
Cash contributions will not be
deductible unless you have a receipt for them from the
organization receiving your cash gift.
Ways in which this may impact an individual is:
cash plate
offerings—regardless of the amount, it will not
be deductible without a written acknowledgement
from the congregation;
cash placed into a basket at
Sunday school;
cash contributed during a
door offering.
This pertains to loose cash not
inside an offering envelope. Cash inside an offering
envelope is identifiable by the envelope number and can
be recorded as in the past.
Congregations may want to provide
advance notice of special door offerings so members can
plan ahead and write a check if they wish to
participate. Members of congregations may want to
consider contributing their Sunday school offerings
monthly or quarterly by check instead of making weekly
cash gifts. Congregations can help members by keeping a
supply of extra envelopes for members who forget to
bring their offering envelope.
Also, while this is not part of the
Pension Protection Act of 2006, I want to remind
everyone that single donations of $250 or more,
regardless of whether made with cash or check, are not
deductible unless you receive a written acknowledgment
from the recipient organization. Please feel free to
contact Roger Curtis with any questions you may have at
Roger.Curtis@idwlcms.org or call 515.576.7666.
(Adopted from Peter Krege, Director of Financial
Planning and Control, Missouri District, LCMS) |
