Your questions – Charities, here’s how to make payments traceable (but watch out for the strictness of Cafs)

In order to be deductible, the disbursement must be made by bank or postal payment or other traceable payment method (debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards, bank and cashier’s checks). The benefit does not apply to disbursements made in cash. Circulars 14/E and 15/E of 19/6/2023 clearly indicate that the payment must be documented by the receipt of the bank or postal payment or by the credit or debit card statement. Only in the case of payment by check or bank draft, or in the event that it is not possible to identify the beneficiary of the donation from the payment receipt or from the account statement, the taxpayer must be in possession of the receipt issued by the same beneficiary showing the method of payment used. Furthermore, it is necessary that from the documentation it is possible to identify the liberal nature of the payment. When the pre-compiled postal slips sent by the institution itself are used (as in the case of the reader with Aism, the Association for the prevention of multiple sclerosis) the nature of the liberal disbursement seems completely evident (and it is generally not possible to add the description of the donation where not already reported in the bulletin). It is not clear why the expenditure for charity has not been accepted by the Caf. With these rigidities we end up discouraging a generous behavior that benefits so much from all these institutions. An urgent clarification from the Revenue Agency is hoped for in this regard. For the avoidance of doubt, it is therefore advisable to always indicate a liberal disbursement in the reason for each payment.

With the advice of Stefano Poggi Longostrevi