I need your opinions

[Falcon]

Okay, I have been barely getting by month to month with only occasional help from my fiance in terms of paying some of the house expenses.

This is the deal....right now my income is $2200. My expenses are as follows..

House Payment: $822
Utilities: $385 <---IRS standards for my area
Food/HH Items: $517 <---IRS standards
Auto operation: $201 <---IRS standards
Auto Insurance: $50
Cell Phone: $30

This totals $2,005. I also decided to add a tithing figure of 10% of my gross income ($220) which would put me at $2225, a negative rating on the means test. I do tithe sometimes at my church, but not as much as I want/should in the past. This has been on my conscience for a long time.

Will a trustee object to this? Also, there might be other expenses Im leaving out but cannot think of right now. What are your opinions? Am I missing a common expense? I have no car payment and my current car is only worth $2000 or so.

My fiance contributes $300 when she can but thats not every month, maybe 1 out of 3 or 4. She is in school, works two jobs herself to pay off her own debts she got dug into when she was in high school. Your thoughts?

[frogger]

My attorney advised me that "charitable contributions" would be looked at very closely. When I told him that my charitable contributions were tithes to my local church, and were consistant, he said no problem.

The trustee hasn't questioned them at all.

[backtoschool]

Tithing is usually only accepted by trustees if you can prove a long, documented history of tithing in the past. Starting to tithe just before filing is going to raise a red flag.

[OhioFiler]

ACTUAL expenses are used to complete your schedule J.

Falsifying your schedules is fraud.

[readytofile]

They didn't question my contributions to my church at all.

[Falcon]

ACTUAL expenses are used to complete your schedule J.

Falsifying your schedules is fraud.

Im not falsifying anything. Ive tithed in the past but havent contributed as much as I would like to lately. And I dont know how one can go about proving they tithe considering its an anonymous thing and usually I just go to the ATM and get some cash that morning or the day before.

[LimpDisc]

Im not falsifying anything. Ive tithed in the past but havent contributed as much as I would like to lately. And I dont know how one can go about proving they tithe considering its an anonymous thing and usually I just go to the ATM and get some cash that morning or the day before.

You don't have any type of receipt from the tithe? Does that mean you don't deduct your tithe on tax returns?

[Falcon]

You don't have any type of receipt from the tithe? Does that mean you don't deduct your tithe on tax returns?

No receipt of any kind. They just pass around the offering plate and thats it. I mean I can prove I take money out of my checking account, but they could say Im just blowing it on other things.

Nick

[LimpDisc]

No receipt of any kind. They just pass around the offering plate and thats it. I mean I can prove I take money out of my checking account, but they could say Im just blowing it on other things.

Nick

We had small envelopes and they would provide a statement at the end of each year.

[frogger]

We had small envelopes and they would provide a statement at the end of each year.

That's the way all of the churches do it around here. In January, we get a printout from the church stating the amount of our contributions. It breaks it down completely for the previous year.

[JEM]

That's the way all of the churches do it around here. In January, we get a printout from the church stating the amount of our contributions. It breaks it down completely for the previous year.

Our church does the same thing...but I've done what the OP mentioned and just put cash in the offering plate without filling out the envelope. Therefore no record. In going over our expenses, I've only listed tithing at what actually shows on the yearly statements from our church (in other words, what we can PROVE we give).

OP---do you have other expenses that you could list, like medical/dental? Do you wear glasses or contacts? A clothing expense?

[LimpDisc]

Falcon-

What do you have on lines 19b, 27, 32 and 34 of the means test?

[momofthree]

We tithe, but do have the end-of-the-year printout from our church to show our contributions. I'd be very nervous about trying to claim it if you can't prove it.

You can add in medical expenses though--those co-pays and prescriptions can really add up, especially when you start thinking about vision & dental. IRS allows $60 a month for that.

Doesn't the IRS have 2 separate auto expense allowances? Vehicle operation expense and transportation ownership expense (this may only cover a car payment, don't know???).

[Falcon]

Falcon-

What do you have on lines 19b, 27, 32 and 34 of the means test?

19B I have ZERO. Line 27 I have $15/month. Line 32 I have $30 and for line 34 I have ZERO....but I do purchase my own insurance and I dont go through my work. So I dont know which line to put this expense in. I only pay $70/month.

[BKInLA]

As is the case with most things, any big changes in the last 6 months may draw red flags. Tithing is completely normal but given your circumstances may be questioned. You'll most likely be fine, just might be looked into a bit more.