Leonard Stockwell - Page 18




                                       - 18 -                                         
          himself when he prepared his tax returns.  He offered no receipts           
          from the donee organization.8  Petitioner stated in the document            
          he offered that he attended the church three times during the               
          year and contributed $75 each time.  We are convinced that                  
          petitioner attended the church and donated money, but we do not             
          find the amounts that petitioner claimed to be credible.  We may            
          estimate cash charitable contributions under the Cohan rule.  See           
          Fontanilla v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-156.  We conclude               
          that petitioner is entitled to deduct $50 of cash charitable                
          contributions.                                                              
               We next turn to petitioner’s contributions of property.                
          Petitioner provided a Goodwill/Easter Seals tax deduction                   
          statement dated December 24, 2003.  Petitioner testified that he            
          added the dollar value amount to the statement himself.                     
          Petitioner also introduced several pages of a worksheet he                  
          completed when preparing his tax return to determine that the               
          value of the property he donated was $924.  Petitioner reported             


               8Petitioner argues on brief that cash charitable                       
          contributions of less than $500 do not require a receipt or other           
          substantiation.  Petitioner is incorrect.  All charitable                   
          contribution deductions for cash are subject to substantiation.             
          Sec. 1.170A-13(a)(1), Income Tax Regs.  Moreover, deductions for            
          cash contributions of over $250 are not allowed unless the                  
          taxpayer substantiates the contribution by a contemporaneous                
          written acknowledgment by the donee organization.  Sec.                     
          170(f)(8).  All contributions of property are also subject to               
          substantiation.  Sec. 1.170A-13(b), Income Tax Regs.  Additional            
          recordkeeping requirements apply to deductions claimed in excess            
          of $500 for contributions of property.  Sec. 1.170A-13(b)(3),               
          Income Tax Regs.                                                            





Page:  Previous  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  Next 

Last modified: November 10, 2007