Charitable Cash Contributions

[trinathon]

I'm a financial clerk in a BYU singles ward and I was wondering if the "Annual Charitable Cash Contributions Official Tax Summary Statement" has to be sent out to those with minimal (<$500) donations?
And if a student isn't working and has no donations?
Also, if the student has moved out of our ward we should just mail it to their new address?
Can we email it to them in a PDF?

Just looking to get things clarified here. Thanks a ton in advanced!

-Andrew Bowns

[aebrown]

I'm a financial clerk in a BYU singles ward and I was wondering if the "Annual Charitable Cash Contributions Official Tax Summary Statement" has to be sent out to those with minimal (<$500) donations?

The RKATS article Print and Distribute Donor Statements says it very simply: "An Official Tax Statement should be delivered to each donor by January 31 of each year."

Thus you send the statement to each donor; there is no mention of any minimum amount, so you would never make a judgment as to whether donation amounts were minimal or not.

And if a student isn't working and has no donations?

It's irrelevant whether a person is working. The question is if they have made donations to your ward. If they have, then they are a donor and should be sent a statement. If they have made no donations, there's no need to send a statement.

Also, if the student has moved out of our ward we should just mail it to their new address?

Yes. Slide 27 of the Tithing Settlement Process training lessons says "If the donor has moved from the ward, the clerk should try to obtain the new address and mail the receipt."

Can we email it to them in a PDF?

That's a new question for me. I can't find a direct answer, but I'd be wary of sending confidential financial information via insecure email.

[jdlessley]

Can we email it to them in a PDF?

The tax valid statement must be signed by the bishop for the statement to meet the U.S. IRS requirement. Printing the statement to PDF without a signature would not make the statement a valid document for a tax audit. I am guessing that the statement signature also needs to be an original. If the statement were signed, then scanned, and sent as a PDF, then there may be an issue with the signature not being original.

[trinathon]

Well looks like I just have to put my nose to the grindstone. Can't wait till technology can be used to make this easier. Thanks for your help!

[aebrown]

Well looks like I just have to put my nose to the grindstone. Can't wait till technology can be used to make this easier.

While technology is always improving, I would note that technology has already made this job a lot easier. I remember the days of typing receipts on triplicate forms with a typewriter, and I've seen much earlier receipt forms written out by hand detailing the goods donated by the member. I'm glad we've made a lot of progress since those days!

[clarkg1]

The church office messages financial records for those that have moved out of the ward to their new ward, so there is no need to send them a statement. They can get the previous wards tithing statements from their new ward clerk on the 31 of DEC for that year and have their new bishop sign.

[daveywest]

Also, if the student has moved out of our ward we should just mail it to their new address?

The US postal service will forward 1st class mail for up to one year. If you can't find the new address, mail the documents to their last known address. If the letter is returned, keep it in your files for the 3 year retention period.

For normal units, I'd even recomend getting "address service requested" envelops. Then, you'll get a new address to send records to if they have moved out of the ward.