Charitable Contributions of $250 or more

A donation of $250 to a charity in any one day requires that the charitable organization give you an acknowledgement letter which must state if you received anything of value in exchange for your contribution. The acknowledgement must be received by the taxpayer the earlier of the filing date of the return or the extended due date. There is no going back to the charity for a letter when your return gets picked for an audit two years later. You may want to reconsider monthly contributions where the amount donated is less than $250 but add up to more than $250 for the year. The charity is not required to give you an acknowledgement letter in that situation, but it may be helpful in an audit to have one.