When a taxpayer contributes $250 or more to a charitable organization, in order for the taxpayer to claim an income tax charitable deduction the organization must provide the taxpayer with a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of the gift.\u00a0 I.R.C. \u00a7 170(f)(8)(A).\u00a0 The acknowledgment must include (i) the amount of cash and a description (but not the value) of any property other than cash contributed, (ii) an explicit statement of whether the donee organization provided any goods or services in consideration for part or all of the gift, and (iii) a description and good faith estimate of the value of the goods or services referred to in clause (ii), or if such goods and services consist solely of intangible religious benefits, a statement to that effect.\u00a0 I.R.C. \u00a7 170(f)(8)(B).<\/p>\n
The following recent cases have confirmed the need for strict compliance with the Internal Revenue Code (the \u201cCode\u201d) in connection with securing the charitable deduction.<\/p>\n
Izen v. Commissioner<\/em>, 38 F.4th<\/sup> 459 (5th<\/sup> Cir. 2022).\u00a0 Taxpayer contributed a 50% interest in a private jet to the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society and claimed a deduction of $338,080, which was disallowed.\u00a0 Taxpayer\u2019s income tax return did not include a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of the gift.\u00a0 Taxpayer subsequently obtained and filed an acknowledgment of the gift, but the Fifth Circuit found it was not contemporaneous and lacked a statement about whether donee provided goods or services in consideration for the gift.\u00a0 The taxpayer argued substantial compliance.\u00a0 The court said that while substantial compliance may suffice to meet the requirements imposed by the Treasury, it does not satisfy requirements imposed by the Code.<\/p>\n