Tax question: Payroll deducted charitable giving

[Anon1234]

2012 was my first year using payroll deduction for giving. I'm doing my own taxes again now that my bogleheaded investments have made it more simple (thanks bogleheads!). So, two questions:

1) Has the contribution already been deducted from my W2 Box 1? It does not explicitly appear on my W2. And, my paycheck stubs clearly state it is an "after tax deduction."

2) If the answer to 1 is "No" then how do I document the contributions? I found publication 1771 here http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1771.pdf which is kind of unclear (and has a misspelling). Do I need both the pay stub and the pledge card? I don't have a pledge card.

[Sidney]

If it is an after tax deduction, it won't appear on the W2. The year-end paystub should show all deductions - that should suffice for itemizing the donation if that is your intent.

[livesoft]

It sure seems to me like the charity itself would be sending you a Receipt in order to document your giving --- even if it came from payroll deduction. You really want that receipt because it tells you the money really went to where you wanted it to go and not into the back pocket of someone in your Payroll dept.

[Anon1234]

If it is an after tax deduction, it won't appear on the W2. The year-end paystub should show all deductions - that should suffice for itemizing the donation if that is your intent.

That's my intent. I agree it should suffice, but if I need that other thing I sure would like to get it now instead of years later, should I get audited.f But I don't want to waste my time if I don't need the pledge card.

[Anon1234]

It sure seems to me like the charity itself would be sending you a Receipt in order to document your giving --- even if it came from payroll deduction. You really want that receipt because it tells you the money really went to where you wanted it to go and not into the back pocket of someone in your Payroll dept.

The charity didn't send me anything yet. It sure would be a scandal for mymegacorp. They publish their giving numbers (including employee giving). I suspect someone from the charity would notice if the news press number didn't match their account credit number.

Sounds like your advice is to get the pledge card.