wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Tsunami donations and 2004 taxes

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	January 28, 2005 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 3

	Donors must give ?cash? by Jan. 31 to claim
	tsunami-aid donations on 2004 tax returns

	The LCMS Foundation has asked LCMSNews to remind its subscribers
that U.S. taxpayers who plan to itemize deductions on their 2004 tax
returns must give or postmark their cash donations for tsunami relief by
Monday, Jan. 31, in order to claim them for 2004.

	Congress enacted a law Jan. 7 allowing those provisions.

	A Jan. 10 Internal Revenue Service news release about the new
law quotes IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson that ?there are no extra
forms to fill out or any additional burden for taxpayers. As long as you
send your check by the end of the month, the donation will be treated
just like it was still 2004.

	?The new law only allows for cash contributions ... made
specifically for the relief of victims in areas affected by the Dec. 26,
2004, tsunami in the Indian Ocean,? the news release says. ?The new
law
gives taxpayers the option of deducting the contributions on either
their 2004 or 2005 returns, but not both.

	Leonard Fiedler, the LCMS Foundation?s senior vice president for
ministry resource development, said that for the Foundation to consider
a gift as cash, ?it must be sent by check or money order with a
postmark
of no later than Jan. 31, or posted for credit-card payment by that
date. The extension does not apply to gifts in the form of stocks,
bonds, or any other securities or investments.

	The LCMS Foundation receives and processes donations made
directly to the Synod.

	To contribute to tsunami relief through the Synod, make checks
or money orders payable to ?LCMS World Relief? and earmark them
?Asia
Tsunami? on the memo line. Mail donations to LCMS World Relief/Human
Care, P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-9810. Or, call the credit-card
gift line at (888) 930-4438.

	Credit-card donations also may be made through the Synod?s
Web-based ?Give Now? system by going to catalog.lcms.org/
<http://catalog.lcms.org/>  , clicking on ?LCMS World Relief,? and
then
on ?Help Tsunami Victims in Asia.

	***************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

	***************************************

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