PURSUANT TO
Decision will be entered under Rule 155.
NEGA,
Respondent determined deficiencies of $1,035 and $2,486 in petitioner's Federal income tax for tax years 2010 and 2011, respectively. In accordance with the parties' stipulations, the only remaining issue for decision is whether petitioner is entitled to deductions for contributions of noncash property to various charitable organizations.
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. Petitioner resided in California at the time she filed her petition.
Petitioner timely filed her 2010 and 2011 Federal income tax returns. On her 2010 tax return, she claimed deductions of $7,100 for cash2015 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 27">*28 contributions to charity and $2,500 for noncash contributions to charity. On her 2011 tax return, she claimed a deduction of $4,400 for cash contributions to charity. For tax year 2010 respondent allowed deductions of $200 for cash contributions to charity and $2,500 for noncash contributions to charity. For tax year 2011 respondent allowed deductions of $380 for cash contributions to charity and $1,000 for noncash contributions to charity even though petitioner did not originally claim a deduction for any noncash contributions to charity on her 2011 return.
Petitioner acknowledged that the original claimed cash charitable contribution deduction amounts were incorrect but stated to respondent that they should have been reported as noncash charitable contribution deductions. During 2010 and 2011 petitioner donated to various charities household items she had inherited from her parents, who died before the tax years in issue, and from her sister, who died in 2010. Petitioner made donations to the Baras Foundation (Baras) and to the Animal Protection & Rescue League (APRL). To support her claimed deductions for the donations, petitioner submitted various receipts from Baras and APRL. Most2015 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 27">*29 of the receipts lack one or more of the following: type of property donated, value of property donated, signature of anyone acting on behalf of the donee organization, or a statement to the effect that no goods or services were rendered in exchange for the donated property. The following table represents the receipts petitioner submitted to substantiate her donations to charity:
Baras | --- | --- | 2/2010 | --- |
APRL | TVs | --- | 2/20/2010 | C. Suitre |
APRL | Furniture | $500 | 4/7/2010 | Leslie Pedersen |
Baras | TVs, stereos, | |||
living room furniture | --- | 10/2010 | --- | |
APRL | Clothes and blankets | --- | 10/8/2010 | Leslie Pedersen |
Baras | --- | 500 | 2/2011 | --- |
Baras | --- | --- | 3/2011 | --- |
Baras | --- | 150 | 5/2011 | --- |
Baras | --- | --- | 8/2011 | --- |
APRL | TV, washer, dryer, furniture | 600 | 8/7/2011 | Olga Cortes |
Baras | --- | --- | Illegible | --- |
Petitioner submitted to the Court donation guides from Goodwill and the Salvation Army that she used to assess the value of clothing donated to Baras and APRL. Although only one receipt reflects a donation for clothes, and that receipt does not place a value on the clothes donated, petitioner claims a deduction of $1,848 for clothes donated to charity. Petitioner's handwritten notes assign the maximum recommended value to each item2015 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 27">*30 of clothing donated, except for three coats, to which she assigned lower values than those recommended by the Goodwill donation guide. The handwritten notes do not describe the age or condition of the clothing donated.
Trial in this case was held on October 28, 2014. At trial petitioner submitted amended receipts where she had filled in many of the missing fields reflected on the above table. On cross-examination, petitioner admitted to having filled in those values on the night before trial.
The Commissioner's determination as to a taxpayer's tax liability is presumed correct, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving otherwise.
Section 170(a)(1) allows as a deduction any charitable contribution made within the taxable year. Taxpayers must satisfy certain statutory and regulatory substantiation requirements in order to deduct charitable contributions.2015 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 27">*31
Contributions of $250 or more in property must be substantiated by a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the donee organization that contains a description of the property contributed and a statement detailing whether the donee provided any goods and services in exchange for the donation, and if so, a description and good-faith estimate of the value of any such goods and services given in consideration for the contribution. Sec. 170(f)(8)(A) and (B). An acknowledgment is considered2015 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 27">*32 contemporaneous if the taxpayer obtains the acknowledgment on or before the earlier of (1) the date on which the taxpayer files a return for the taxable year in which the contribution was made, or (2) the due date (including extensions) for filing that return. Sec. 170(f)(8)(C). When the claimed value of the donated property exceeds $500, taxpayers must: (1) meet the information requirements for donations of $250 or more, (2) maintain records with a more detailed description of the property, including the manner and approximate date of acquisition and cost or other basis in the property, and (3) include certain information with the return. Sec. 170(f)(11)(B);
For contributions of less than $250, each contribution is treated separately for purposes of the section 170(f)(8) requirements.
All contributions of $250 or more must be substantiated by a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the donee organization. Sec. 170(f)(8)(A). Petitioner admitted to modifying the receipts from Baras and APRL on the eve of trial by adding estimated fair market values and more detailed descriptions of the property donated. These modified receipts do not constitute contemporaneous written acknowledgments from Baras or APRL, and the Court will not rely on them for purposes of determining whether petitioner has met the substantiation requirements. Instead, the Court will rely only on the unmodified receipts, the contents of which are laid out in the table
Of the unmodified receipts submitted to the Court, only four contain donation values. Two receipts contain donation values of $500, which means they must meet the substantiation requirements for donations of $250-$500. The2015 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 27">*34 first receipt, for furniture donated to APRL on April 7, 2010, fails to meet the substantiation requirements because (1) "furniture" is not a description that is reasonably sufficient under the circumstances, and (2) it does not contain a statement as to whether any goods and services were rendered by APRL in exchange for the furniture.
Contributions of property exceeding $500 in value must be further substantiated with information about (1) the approximate date the property was acquired and the manner of its acquisition; (2) a description of the property in detail reasonable under the circumstances; (3) the cost or other basis in the property; (4) the fair market value of the property; and (5) the method used in determining its fair market value.
Petitioner provided one receipt for property exceeding $500 in value for a donation on August 7, 2011, of a "TV, washer, dryer, [and] furniture" to APRL. Petitioner did not provide the required information under section 170(f)(11)(B) regarding the August 7, 2011, donation to APRL, such as the approximate date and manner of acquisition or cost or other basis in the property, nor did she attach an explanatory statement detailing why such information was unavailable.
The remaining receipts petitioner submitted to the Court lack donation values. The fair market value of contributed property need not be stated on the receipt, but it is one of the circumstances to be considered when determining the amount of detail included on the receipt.
Petitioner has failed to carry her burden of proving her entitlement to the claimed deductions for charitable contributions. Because petitioner did not satisfy the substantiation requirements, we are unable to allow her any deduction2015 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 27">*37 in excess of what respondent has already allowed.
In reaching our holding, we have considered all arguments made, and, to the extent not mentioned above, we conclude they are moot, irrelevant, or without merit.
To reflect the foregoing,