Donations for Haiti relief...

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mamadsen
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#11

Post by mamadsen »

jbh001 wrote:That doesn't sound quite right to me. My understanding is that only tithing and fast offerings show up in the MLS-printed tax statement as being tax deductible, BUT that does not preclude donations to the"Other" account from being be tax deductible--it is just the member's responsibility to keep track of that status, not MLS's. And example of such a tax deductible donation to the "Other" account might be donations made for BSA camp. If this is incorrect, please let me know.

I also don't recall donations to general or ward missionary funds, Book of Mormon fund, Humanitarian Aid, -- or anything but tithing and fast offerings -- show up on the MLS-printed tax statement. Maybe I've just been missing it all this time.
Actually, donations in all categories are considered charitable contributions (few exceptions to budget) except for those in the "Other" category. Thus, contributions to these categories are reflected on the official tax statement produced by MLS. See the wiki article for reference.
lajackson
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#12

Post by lajackson »

jbh001 wrote:My understanding is that only tithing and fast offerings show up in the MLS-printed tax statement as being tax deductible, . . .
All of the donation categories on the Tithing and Other Offerings slip except for Other (specify) will show up as charitable contributions. MLS is programmed that way.

Other (specify) will show up as non-charitable.

Even though Humanitarian aid, Temple construction, and Perpetual education are recorded in the Other category in MLS when the deposit is prepared, these accounts are recorded as charitable contributions.
russellhltn
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#13

Post by russellhltn »

jbh001 wrote:BUT that does not preclude donations to the"Other" account from being be tax deductible--it is just the member's responsibility to keep track of that status, not MLS's. And example of such a tax deductible donation to the "Other" account might be donations made for BSA camp.
I think the wording on the tax statement clarifies the situation: "The Church provided no goods or services in consideration, in whole or in part, for the contributions detailed below". As I understand it, if you DID receive "goods or services", then you would not be able to deduct the value of that portion of the donation.

The wording above would not typically apply to a BSA camp. Nor would it apply to most uses of "Other". (But there are exceptions, some of them pre-programed into MLS.)
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freedom55
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#14

Post by freedom55 »

Hello MRK,

I checked the wiki article you mentioned. My recollection is that a subcategory of Other called "Temple Specific" already exists in MLS and does trigger eligibility for a tax refund. If you create another subcategory called Temple Specific: Vancouver (for example), donations to that subcategory do not attract a tax refund. If my recollection is accurate, the wiki should be ammended to read "use the Temple Specific subcategory" not "add a Temple Specific subcategory".

If my memory is failing (it has on occasion) just disregard this note.
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aebrown
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#15

Post by aebrown »

Freedom55 wrote:Hello MRK,

I checked the wiki article you mentioned. My recollection is that a subcategory of Other called "Temple Specific" already exists in MLS and does trigger eligibility for a tax refund. If you create another subcategory called Temple Specific: Vancouver (for example), donations to that subcategory do not attract a tax refund. If my recollection is accurate, the wiki should be ammended to read "use the Temple Specific subcategory" not "add a Temple Specific subcategory".

If my memory is failing (it has on occasion) just disregard this note.
I see no problem with the wiki article. It describes "Other: Temple (Specific)" as a charitable subcategory, and also says "Add a subcategory in Other: Temple (Specific) to receipt and disburse these contributions," which is correct. If you add a subcategory such as "Other: Temple (Specific): Vancouver" the donations will be considered to be charitable donations.

If, on the other hand, you create a subcategory of "Other" such as "Other: Vancouver Temple" then you will indeed have a problem -- the donations will not be considered to be charitable by MLS. So just make sure you are creating a subcategory of the charitable category "Other:Temple (Specific)" and you will be fine.
freedom55
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#16

Post by freedom55 »

Hi Alan,

As the saying goes, "been there, done that". When the Vancouver temple was announced we instructed the ward clerks to set up a subcategory to Other - Temple Specific: Vancouver. At the end of the year I started getting calls from clerks advising that donors weren't getting any credit for their donations to that category. I had them change categories back to the generic Temple Specific and the tax receipts then picked up the donations.

I don't know how the program is coded but it appears that anything other than the default categories and subcategories will not be recognised as a charitable donation. :confused:
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mfmohlma
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#17

Post by mfmohlma »

Freedom55 wrote:I don't know how the program is coded but it appears that anything other than the default categories and subcategories will not be recognised as a charitable donation. :confused:
As Alan stated, you need to create a subcategory of the "Other: Temple (Specific)" subcategory (a sub-subcategory, if you will). Perhaps you misunderstood his example. This will be caught by MLS as a charitable donation.
freedom55
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#18

Post by freedom55 »

OK, the devil is in the details. I was creating a subcategory in Other, not a subcategory in Other: Temple (Specific) - a subcategory to a subcategory. Of course the program will credit any donations because it's reading the default subcategory. Man, I can be dense sometimes. Thanks for setting me straight.
nasterblaster-p40
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#19

Post by nasterblaster-p40 »

For clarity purposes. I keep getting conflicting information about the church's charitable tax status as it specifically pertains to Canada. Does anyone know, for certain what it is? If a member gives money to Humanitarian aid and designates it specifically to go to Haitian relief, for instance, does this qualifyer prevent the member from recieving a tax reciept and does it actually go specifically to Haiti or is it used anywhere the church feels it is needed. Does anyone know the actual truth on this one? I have heard that the LDS church in Canada is in a sticky situation as it pertains to its charitable donation status for humanitarian aid. More specifically that any humanitarian aid donated within Canada must, by Canadian tax law, be "Country Specific" or in other words only used within Canada.
RossEvans
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#20

Post by RossEvans »

nasterblaster wrote:For clarity purposes. I keep getting conflicting information about the church's charitable tax status as it specifically pertains to Canada. Does anyone know, for certain what it is? If a member gives money to Humanitarian aid and designates it specifically to go to Haitian relief, for instance, does this qualifyer prevent the member from recieving a tax reciept and does it actually go specifically to Haiti or is it used anywhere the church feels it is needed. Does anyone know the actual truth on this one? I have heard that the LDS church in Canada is in a sticky situation as it pertains to its charitable donation status for humanitarian aid. More specifically that any humanitarian aid donated within Canada must, by Canadian tax law, be "Country Specific" or in other words only used within Canada.

I know nothing about Canadian tax law. As far as MLS donations are concerned, I know of no way to earmark Humanitarian Assistance funds for "Haiti" or any other such specific purpose.
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