Overview
Today, Treasury and the IRS issued final regulations under section 170, providing guidance concerning substantiation and reporting requirements for charitable contributions. The final regulations, which reflect changes in the law made by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (the Jobs Act) and the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (the PPA), finalize proposed regulations from 2008, with a number of modifications.
In particular, the final regulations address:
- The substantiation requirements for contributions of more than $500 under section 170(f)(11)(B) through (D) (added by the Jobs Act)
- The new definitions of qualified appraisal and qualified appraiser applicable to noncash contributions under section 170(f)(11)(E) (added by the PPA)
- The substantiation requirements for contributions of clothing and household items under section 170(f)(16) (added by the PPA)
- The recordkeeping requirements for all cash contributions under section 170(f)(17) (added by the PPA)
The final regulations supersede and obsolete previous transitional guidance, including Notice 2006-96 (regarding definitions of qualified appraisal/ qualified appraiser); Notice 2006-110 (substantiation of charitable contributions made by payroll); and Notice 2008-16 (substantiation of certain contributions made through the Combined Federal Campaign).