Are your Kingdom Hall "at the door" contributions tax deductable?

by hubert 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  hubert

  I was raised a Catholic. Every Sunday at church, we can pick up a weekly bulletin that states the amount of money taken in from collections of the week before.

  We also have envelopes that we can use for our donations, and also we recieve a statement from this information in the mail showing how much money we have contributed to the church for the previous year, which can be used as a tax deduction.

  Does the Kingdom Hall show their congregations how much money they donate every week in their little box at the back of the Hall, and are they allowed to claim it on their tax returns?

  Hubert
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  AlmostAtheist

  There's some threshold amount you can contribute on a given day ($250?) that the IRS will let you deduct without a receipt. I always counted it as a deduction and no audits yet. (Always used checks, too, though, so I have a receipt anyway.)

  -Dave
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  RunningMan

  First of all, congregations are quite good at disclosing their finances. Each month, a report is completed showing all incoming money and it's source, as well as all expenditures, and the final balance for the month. The report is read at the Service Meeting, and usually is posted on the bulletin board afterward. Congregations usually run pretty lean. The Society, on the other hand, discloses nothing, and this is where all the money resides.

  As for tax deductability of donations, every country has its own laws. In Canada, you must have an official income tax reciept to claim a deduction. You can ask for a reciept any time you make a donation, and for any amount (although some charities don't like to issue receipts for very small donations- there might be a minimum threshhold). Tax receipts are usually issued after the end of the calendar year. The congregation must carefully balance thier issued tax receipts and disclose it on their Charitable Organization return.

  So, yes, the "at the door" contributions are tax deductable. But, depending on your country, you may need an official tax receipt.
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  hubert

  Almostanatheist, .....I assume that's an annual amount, right? Is there only one day you can do this, or is it any day of the year, but once a year?

  Running man, the way it works in the states is, you can deduct any amount as long as you have the statement from the church that shows you gave that amount. However, in order to "itemize" your taxes, you must have a certain percentage of bills for medical, interest on mortgage, and charities ie: church contributions, etc., to do this, otherwise you just take the "standard" deduction that the government allows you to take, depending on how many dependants you are claiming. (I think I got this right). Whatever way it benefits you most.

  Thanks for the info, I was just curious. Any more info is certainly welcome.

  Hubert