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Good Morning - We are getting internal questions on the receipt we send to people who have purchased an Athletic Membership. With a membership you obtain a pass that gets you into certain athletic events, parking (dependent on the level) and the right to buy season basketball or football tickets at 50% discount from the public price. The solicitation letter indicated that the memberships were not deductible (unless you declined the benefits). A receipt / acknowledgement letter is sent to individuals who purchase the membership. If they have accepted the benefits the wording "non-deductible" is included in the description. We are now being told (internally) that including this language (non-deductible) consists of providing tax advice. I would argue that according to Publication 1771 it is just part of the disclosure we need to make. Our receipt also includes language to check with your tax advisor. What say you? Should we remove the "non-deductible" language? Jane Schroeder Accounting & Advancement Analyst Augustana University 2001 S. Summit Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57197 jane.schroeder@augie.edu

We identified the benefit amount in the receipt and used the verbiage directly from 1771: *The amount of the contribution that may be deductible for Federal income tax purposes is limited to the excess of the amount over the value of the goods and services provided by VCU.* On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 10:11 AM Jane Schroeder <jane.schroeder@augie.edu> wrote: > Good Morning - > > We are getting internal questions on the receipt we send to people who > have purchased an Athletic Membership. With a membership you obtain a pass > that gets you into certain athletic events, parking (dependent on the > level) and the right to buy season basketball or football tickets at 50% > discount from the public price. The solicitation letter indicated that the > memberships were not deductible (unless you declined the benefits). > > A receipt / acknowledgement letter is sent to individuals who purchase the > membership. If they have accepted the benefits the wording "non-deductible" > is included in the description. We are now being told (internally) that > including this language (non-deductible) consists of providing tax advice. > I would argue that according to Publication 1771 it is just part of the > disclosure we need to make. Our receipt also includes language to check > with your tax advisor. > > What say you? Should we remove the "non-deductible" language? > > Jane Schroeder > Accounting & Advancement Analyst > Augustana University > 2001 S. Summit Ave. > Sioux Falls, SD 57197 > jane.schroeder@augie.edu > -- Mandy L. L. Smith Director of Gifts and Records Management Development & Alumni Relations Virginia Commonwealth University PO Box 842026 111 N. Fourth St. Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 828-0348 mlsmith4@vcu.edu The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer.