# A hypothetical question. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hypothetical-question/605600 "2011-12-09T07:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hypothetical-question/605600/1 "2011-12-09T07:47:50Z")
So - a person makes a charitable contribution to a non-profit organization - a goodly sum -say $1000+ Said charity is known to publish all donations in their annual review. Above donation is missed from the list of donors and upon questioning, the donors name is added post-haste. Suppose the donors name is not correct? Suppose the reason for donation is not right Should the donor be asked if a tax-exempt receipt is required? Asking for info for 2010 -2011 years stuff in the US. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hypothetical-question/605600/2 "2011-12-09T07:59:18Z")
> [@King\_Bobo](#): > > So - a person makes a charitable contribution to a non-profit organization - a goodly sum -say $1000+ > > Said charity is known to publish all donations in their annual review. > > Above donation is missed from the list of donors and upon questioning, the donors name is added post-haste. > > Suppose the donors name is not correct? > Suppose the reason for donation is not right > Should the donor be asked if a tax-exempt receipt is required? > > Asking for info for 2010 -2011 years stuff in the US. All is just supposed,of course. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hypothetical-question/605600/3 "2011-12-09T08:04:27Z")
Not sure what you mean by tax-exempt receipt. I’m not a tax guy but my understanding is that a charitable contribution can sometimes be counted as a deduction from income for tax purposes, but it is not exempt. In any event, I think a profuse apology should be offered for the error, and a receipt for the deduction automatically given in all cases. From the donor’s point of view, I would assume that in the event of an IRS audit, a copy of the canceled check would be ample evidence to prove the donation was made if the charity was non-cooperative about providing a receipt for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hypothetical-question/605600/4 "2011-12-09T08:12:24Z")
Oak, Not sure if anything should be “by right” - maybe my poor wording - just wondering if, among my several questions, a tax receipt for my contribution should have been offered? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hypothetical-question/605600/5 "2011-12-09T08:13:28Z")
Where I am the receipt would be offered at the point of donation, not later - so inclusion or non inclusion in the published list would be irrelevant. In fact, I’d think such a thing could be a tax dodge of some sort if you used that as the basis for claiming tax relief. And here, you get double relief for donating to registered charities (with a cap of course) ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hypothetical-question/605600/6 "2011-12-09T08:23:19Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Where I am the receipt would be offered at the point of donation, not later - so inclusion or non inclusion in the published list would be irrelevant. In fact, I’d think such a thing could be a tax dodge of some sort if you used that as the basis for claiming tax relief. > > And here, you get double relief for donating to registered charities (with a cap of course) The hypothetical was a donation to a US charity. Donor has no standing in the US. Question was for the status of the US charity. I did indeed make a contribution to a US charity - but am not a usian.