How to Claim Church Offerings on Your Taxes

Claim church offerings on Schedule A.

Contributions to qualified charitable organizations are deductible on your federal income tax return. Religious groups such as churches are considered qualified charitable organizations. Claim church offerings on Schedule A of your federal Form 1040.

Things You'll Need

• IRS Schedule A
• Receipts for church offerings (or canceled checks)
• Pen or pencil
• Calculator

Instructions

1. Gather your receipts or canceled checks from your church offerings. The IRS requires a record of the date and amount of cash or check contributions made. Many churches provide a year-end contribution summary for this purpose.

2. Calculate your total church offerings and add any other cash charitable contributions you made during the year. "Cash contributions" include those made by check or credit card.

3. Write your total cash contributions on Schedule A, line 16. If you do not itemize your deductions on Schedule A, you cannot claim charitable contributions on your federal tax return.

4. List any non-cash contributions on Schedule A, line 17. Non-cash contributions include donations of items such as clothing or furniture.

5. Enter contributions carried over from the previous year on Schedule A, line 18.

6. Add your cash contributions, non-cash contributions and any amounts carried over from the previous year. Enter the total on Schedule A, line 19.

Tips & Warnings

• Your charitable contribution deduction amount may be limited depending on your income. Review IRS Publication 526, "Charitable Contributions," to determine what limits, if any, there are on your charitable deductions.

• If you receive a tangible benefit from your church offerings, you cannot deduct the full amount of the offering. You are only able to deduct the amount of the contribution that exceeds the benefit you received.

References

• IRS Publication 526: Charitable Contributions
• IRS: Ten Tips for Deducting Charitable Contributions