Keeping Records of Your Charity

Taxpayers are required to keep excellent records of their charitable contributions. Under the Pension Protection Act, you must keep written records of all cash donations. Your records must indicate the name of the charitable organization, the date of your contribution, and the amount your contribution. Canceled checks or checks number required working well as a written record, since the name of the charity, the date of the gift, and the amount of the gift will all be recorded on the check. Bank statements showing a gift paid by debit card and credit card statements showing a gift paid by credit card are also contain these same elements needed for your records.

Charitable organizations will often provide donors with a written letter acknowledging the gift or with a receipt for the donation. These acknowledgment letters should also be kept with your tax records. If a tax return is audited, the income tax department can disallow charitable donations of certain amount or more if you don´t have the written acknowledgement from the charity that documents your gift. The Income Tax department advises, "If you made more than one contribution of certain amount or more, you must have either a separate acknowledgment for each or one acknowledgment that lists each contribution and the date of each contribution and shows your total contributions"