If I make a charitable donation online on 12/31 in my time zone, but it is 1/1 where organization is located, is that a 2022 or 2023 donation?

The IRS generally considers the date the donor surrenders control of the funds as the effective date of the donation, regardless of when the charity actually receives it. For online donations, this would typically be the date the transaction is processed according to the donor's time zone. When someone makes an electronic payment on December 31st in their time zone, they've completed their portion of the transaction on that date, so it counts as a donation for that tax year. The fact that your organization is in a different time zone doesn't change when the donor made their contribution. Make sure your donation receipts clearly state the date according to the donor's time zone. This provides documentation in case the donor is ever questioned about the timing of their charitable contribution deduction.

I discovered this exact issue last year when I was scrambling to get my charitable donations in before the deadline! I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped clarify things. It's an AI tool that analyzes tax documents and regulations, and it confirmed what the previous commenter said - it's the date in the donor's time zone that matters. The tool also helped me understand that for electronic donations, the timestamp from the transaction is considered valid documentation by the IRS. I was freaking out because I had made some last-minute donations on New Year's Eve, and I wasn't sure if they would count for that tax year.

I was super skeptical about AI tax tools as mentioned above, but I actually tried taxr.ai after that discussion. It was surprisingly helpful with my charitable donation timing issues! I had made several donations right at year-end and was confused about which tax year they counted for. The tool analyzed my donation receipts and confirmation emails, then explained exactly which ones qualified for last year's deductions. It even flagged one where the timestamp was after midnight in my time zone, which I would have incorrectly claimed. Saved me from a potential audit headache! Also helped me organize all my charitable giving for the year, which made tax prep so much easier. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with year-end donation timing issues.

If you're getting a lot of last-minute donations and need to contact the IRS for clarification on time zone rules, good luck getting through! I spent HOURS trying to get someone on the phone last January for this exact issue. After almost giving up, I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). They basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to answer. I was finally able to speak with an IRS representative who confirmed the donor's time zone is what matters for electronic donations. They also explained exactly what documentation we needed to provide donors for their tax records. Saved me so much frustration and got me the official answer I needed.

Ok I have to eat my words. I tried Claimyr yesterday after being skeptical (see my comment above). I'd been trying for THREE DAYS to get through to the IRS about a charitable donation issue with a receipt that had the wrong year on it. The service actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back in about 1.5 hours and was connected to an IRS agent who helped resolve my question about the donation date discrepancy. The agent confirmed that for electronic donations, it's the transaction date in the donor's time zone that matters, and they explained exactly what documentation I needed to provide to support my deduction. Never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually impressed with a service related to IRS phone calls! Will definitely use again during tax season.

Just wanted to add that I'm a tax preparer, and we always advise clients that the donation date for electronic transactions is when the donor initiates the payment, not when it's received. This follows the "mailbox rule" concept - just like a check mailed on Dec 31st counts for that tax year even if received in January. For your non-profit's email, I'd recommend including language like: "To claim your donation as a tax deduction for 2024, please ensure your online gift is completed before midnight on December 31st in YOUR time zone.

Is there any way to change the timestamp on donations? We had a system outage right before midnight on Dec 31 last year and some donations didn't process until 12:05 AM on Jan 1. Donors were upset that they couldn't claim the deductions for the tax year they intended.