- 49 -
On their 1989 return, petitioners claimed a charitable
contribution deduction of $8,111. The Schedule A attached to the
return did not identify any organization to which a contribution
was made. Respondent disallowed the entire amount claimed as
charitable contribution deduction for 1989 on the ground that
petitioners had failed to substantiate the charitable
contribution. No evidence was presented establishing whether any
checks were written on the NCNB account to the St. Cloud First
United Methodist Church in 1989.
B. Discussion
1. Allocation of Items
Petitioner claims that this item is allocable to Mr. Rowe
because he controlled the amount contributed to the church and he
represented to her that the contributions had been made.
Respondent argues that this item should be allocated evenly
between petitioner and Mr. Rowe because the contributions were to
a church which they both attended and in which petitioner was
actively involved.
Congress intended for personal deduction items to generally
be allocated equally between spouses, unless the electing spouse
establishes that a different allocation is appropriate. Sec.
6015(c)(2); S. Rept. 105-174, supra at 57, 1998-3 C.B. at 593.25
25The legislative history of sec. 6015 provides the
following example of an allocation of charitable contributions:
(continued...)
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