Festus E. Obiakor and Paulene Harris Obiakor - Page 4




                                        - 3 -                                         
          clothing, shoes, women’s handbags, irons and ironing boards,                
          backpacks, furniture, and household appliances.  All of the items           
          donated to the Salvation Army had been used by petitioners.                 
               Petitioners filed their joint 2003 Federal income tax return           
          reporting a noncash charitable contribution of $23,211.                     
          Petitioners attached a receipt of the type given by the Salvation           
          Army to donors for tax purposes to their return.1  Petitioners              
          listed the following information on the “Special Instructions”              
          portion of the aforementioned receipt: “boxes of jackets; bags of           
          clothes; shoes; fashion bags; irons; quantities of backpacks,               
          furnitures [sic], etc.”  Under the “Description” portion of the             
          receipt, petitioners listed the value of the items donated as               
          “$17,889.00.”                                                               
               In addition to the noncash items that they donated to the              
          Salvation Army, petitioners testified to making the following               
          cash gifts in taxable year 2003: Texas Christian University                 
          ($60); St. Jude’s Hospital ($10); NIWI2 ($250).3  Petitioners did           
          not provide receipts for any of the aforementioned donations.               


               1 Petitioner testified that he, and not the Salvation Army’s           
          staff, filled out the receipt after it was given to him.                    
               2 Based on petitioners’ testimony, “NIWI” is a religious               
          organization.                                                               
               3 The record refers to purported noncash and cash                      
          contributions in the amounts of $17,889 and $320, respectively.             
          The record is silent as to the nature of the unaccounted $5,002             
          ($23,211 – 18,209) in contributions.                                        





Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  Next 

Last modified: November 10, 2007