End of Year Tax Statements

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jimbloodsworth
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Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:39 pm

End of Year Tax Statements

#1

Post by jimbloodsworth »

How soon will the EOY Tax Statements for 2019 be available? I'm still only able to generate donor tax statements for 2018 and 2017, but not 2019. They are supposed to all be done by end of this month.
russellhltn
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Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#2

Post by russellhltn »

jimbloodsworth wrote:How soon will the EOY Tax Statements for 2019 be available? I'm still only able to generate donor tax statements for 2018 and 2017, but not 2019. They are supposed to all be done by end of this month.
No date has been announced, but they will appear before the end of the month. I'd imagine it will be before Sunday since it will be the last Sunday in January.
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jimbloodsworth
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Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#3

Post by jimbloodsworth »

Okay, I'll increase my patience quotient. (I'm new at this).
Thanks,
Jim
davesudweeks
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Location: Washington, USA

Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#4

Post by davesudweeks »

I turned off making my ward print my statement for me. However, I just checked and still cannot generate my 2019 statement yet. I'm not concerned as I'm not quite ready to dive into my taxes yet. Patience is still advised.

I believe US Tax law requires the statements to be available by the last day of January, even though many entities provide it before then (my military retirement statement was available on New Year's Day). As there can be 1-2 weeks into the year for donations to hit for the prior year (example: mailed and postmarked at the end of the year and received by the Bishop after the first Sunday, he brings it to the church the second Sunday to make the deposit as a "last year" donation). We should not expect them until AFTER the 2nd or 3rd week of the month (in my opinion).
davesudweeks
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Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#5

Post by davesudweeks »

jimbloodsworth wrote:They are supposed to all be done by end of this month.
When I was clerk, we would put them all in envelopes and hand out as many as we could on the Sundays after they were available. Then, after the last Sunday of the month, we would address the envelopes and mail them. As long as they are postmarked by 1/31, you are meeting the letter of the law (as I understand - I am NOT a tax law expert).
lajackson
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Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#6

Post by lajackson »

davesudweeks wrote:
jimbloodsworth wrote:They are supposed to all be done by end of this month.
When I was clerk, we would put them all in envelopes and hand out as many as we could on the Sundays after they were available. Then, after the last Sunday of the month, we would address the envelopes and mail them. As long as they are postmarked by 1/31, you are meeting the letter of the law (as I understand - I am NOT a tax law expert).
Non-profit organizations such as the Church have different rules than most other businesses. Do your best to get them distributed by the end of January (assuming they are available).

In a wonderful catch-22 situation under U.S. IRS rules, the donor must have the statement before they submit their tax return in order to claim a deduction. But the charitable organization is not required by law to provide it. Obviously, if charitable institutions didn't use their best efforts to distribute the statements in a timely manner, there would be a lot of unhappy donors.

And so the Church asks that we distribute as many as we can by the end of January and that we retain any we cannot distribute for at least one year in case the donor requests the statement.
lajackson
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Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#7

Post by lajackson »

lajackson wrote:(assuming they are available)
I received an email today that my statement is available, and indeed it is.
drepouille
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Location: Plattsmouth, NE

Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#8

Post by drepouille »

Hooray! I just printed 67 pages of official statements for the members of my ward who have not opted out of printed statements. Now it's time to fold them and stuff envelopes. On Sunday, my assistant and I will be running around the chapel trying to match names with faces.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
jpjones~ogr
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Location: Brigham City, UT, USA

Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#9

Post by jpjones~ogr »

This is mostly a commentary with some hope of value for newer clerks, or maybe finance system reviews.

For 2018 and 2019 tax years my experience was that official tax statements were finally available on or after the last Sunday in January. If on the last Sunday it was after our meeting block. This left me rushing to mail all statements so they were at least postmarked before February 1. Unfortunately I expect another last minute delivery this year.

My assistant clerks used to have a little fun distributing statements for a couple Sundays each year. Then we'd only have to mail maybe 10. Mailing a hundred is tough, and it removes $50+ from an already trim budget.

Considering lajackson's insights above, maybe finance folks at HQ could rewrite the related web page instruction/information so clerks who tend see January 31 as an absolute deadline can knock their stress levels down a bit (including me). I've been ignoring the word "should" partly because of my history. I didn't even wonder if nonprofits might have a larger grace period. Professionally I'm used to complying with strict state and federal rules impacting private business.

It would still be nice to have access to official statements much earlier in January. It seems odd that current technology doesn't seem to be able to do so.

I appreciate ongoing access to these forums. They help me support local leaders and ward family. Today my self inflicted stress is a little better managed.
davesudweeks
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Re: End of Year Tax Statements

#10

Post by davesudweeks »

And members can (in the USA, anyway) go in to the online donation site and set the statement so the clerk won't have to print it. That is what I have done so it is one less thing for our current clerk to do. Members can go into the donation site and pull down a digital copy of the form on demand once it is issued, which makes it easier if they are trying to keep their documentation electronic. I think I received an email last year when my tax-valid donation statement was ready (but I have slept since then so my memory from a year ago may not be accurate).

I would always recommend to our ward members that they consider turning off the printout, but would never pressure anyone who still liked to receive a paper copy (their reasons were none of my business).
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