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• Become a widow or widower. Because of their complexity and the limited number of taxpayers to whom these additional rules apply, they aren't discussed in this publi- cation. If you need to figure a carryover and you are in one of these situations, you may want to consult with a tax practitioner. Substantiation Requirements You must keep records to prove the amount of the contributions you make during the year. The kind of records you must keep depends on the amount of your contributions and whether they are: • Cash contributions, • Noncash contributions, or • Out-of-pocket expenses when donating your services. Note. An organization must generally give you a written statement if it receives a payment from you that is more than $75 and is partly a contribution and partly for goods or services. (See Contributions From Which You Benefit un- der Contributions You Can Deduct, earlier.) Keep the statement for your records. It may sat- isfy all or part of the recordkeeping require- ments explained in the following discussions. Cash Contributions Cash contributions include payments made by cash, check, electronic funds transfer, online payment service, debit card, credit card, payroll deduction, or a transfer of a gift card redeema- ble for cash. You can't deduct a cash contribution, re- gardless of the amount, unless you keep one of the following. 1. A bank record that shows the name of the qualified organization, the date of the con- tribution, and the amount of the contribu- tion. Bank records may include: a. A canceled check. b. A bank or credit union statement. c. A credit card statement. d. An electronic fund transfer receipt. e. A scanned image of both sides of a canceled check obtained from a bank or credit union website. 2. A receipt (or a letter or other written com- munication such as an email) from the qualified organization showing the name of the organization, the date of the contri- bution, and the amount of the contribution. 3. The payroll deduction records described next. Payroll deductions. If you make a contribu- tion by payroll deduction, you must keep: 1. A pay stub, Form W-2, or other document furnished by your employer that shows the date and amount of the contribution; and 2. A pledge card or other document prepared by or for the qualified organization that shows the name of the organization and states the organization doesn’t provide goods or services in return for any contri- bution made to it by payroll deduction. If your employer withheld $250 or more from a single paycheck, see Contributions of $250 or More next. Contributions of $250 or More You can claim a deduction for a contribution of $250 or more only if you have a contemporane- ous written acknowledgment of your contribu- tion from the qualified organization or certain payroll deduction records. See Contemporane- ous written acknowledgement, later, for a de- scription of when a written acknowledgement is considered “contemporaneous” with your con- tribution. If you made more than one contribution of $250 or more, you must have either a separate acknowledgment for each or one acknowledg- ment that lists each contribution and the date of each contribution and shows your total contri- butions. Amount of contribution. In figuring whether your contribution is $250 or more, don't com- bine separate contributions. For example, if you gave your church $25 each week, your weekly payments don't have to be combined. Each payment is a separate contribution. If contributions are made by payroll deduc- tion, the deduction from each paycheck is trea- ted as a separate contribution. If you made a payment that is partly for goods and services, as described earlier under Contributions From Which You Benefit, your contribution is the amount of the payment that is more than the value of the goods and services. Acknowledgment. The acknowledgment must meet these tests. 1. It must be written. 2. It must include: a. The amount of cash you contributed, b. Whether the qualified organization gave you any goods or services as a result of your contribution (other than certain token items and membership benefits), c. A description and good faith estimate of the value of any goods or services described in (b). If the only benefit you received was an intangible religious benefit (such as admission to a reli- gious ceremony) that generally isn’t sold in a commercial transaction out- side the donative context, the ac- knowledgement must say so and doesn’t need to describe or estimate the value of the benefit. If the acknowledgment doesn't show the date of the contribution, you must also have a bank record or receipt, as described earlier, that does show the date of the contribution. If the acknowledgment shows the date of the contri- bution and meets the other tests just described, you don't need any other records. Contemporaneous written acknowledg- ment. Organizations typically send written ac- knowledgements to donors no later than Janu- ary 31 of the year following the donation. For the written acknowledgement to be considered contemporaneous with the contribution it must meet both of the following requirements. 1. Meet all the tests described under Ac- knowledgment, earlier; and 2. You must get it on or before the earlier of: a. The date you file your return for the year you make the contribution; or b. The due date, including extensions, for filing the return. Payroll deductions. If you make a contribu- tion by payroll deduction and your employer withholds $250 or more from a single paycheck, you must keep: 1. A pay stub, Form W-2, or other document furnished by your employer that shows the amount withheld as a contribution; and 2. A pledge card or other document prepared by or for the qualified organization that shows the name of the organization and states the organization doesn't provide goods or services in return for any contri- bution made to it by payroll deduction. A single pledge card may be kept for all contri- butions made by payroll deduction regardless of amount as long as it contains all the required information. If the pay stub, Form W-2, pledge card, or other document doesn't show the date of the contribution, you must have another document that does show the date of the contribution. If the pay stub, Form W-2, pledge card, or other document shows the date of the contribution, you don't need any other records except those just described in (1) and (2). Noncash Contributions Substantiation requirements for contributions not made in cash depend on whether your de- duction for the contribution is: 1. Less than $250, 2. At least $250 but not more than $500, 3. Over $500 but not more than $5,000, or 4. Over $5,000. The substantiation requirements for non- cash contributions of more than $500 also apply to any return filed for any carryover year. Amount of deduction. In figuring whether your deduction is $500 or more, combine your claimed deductions for all similar items of prop- erty donated to any qualified organization dur- ing the year. If you received goods or services in return, as described earlier in Contributions From Which You Benefit, reduce your contribution by the value of those goods or services. If you Page 20 Publication 526 (2021)