3520 and charitable donations

[watt]

In Canada, most charities are structured as corporations, but in many parts of the world (for example, UK, Australia, New Zealand), charities are commonly structured as trusts under a trust deed, and "Charitable Trust" is basically synonymous with the word charity.

I know that US persons cannot claim a deduction for donations to a foreign charity, but would such donations be subject to 3520 filing?
The only exception I see in the 3520 instructions is:

"Transfers to foreign trusts that have a current determination letter from the IRS recognizing their status as exempt from income taxation under section 501(c)(3)."

This raises some serious questions:

- Does the Canada/US tax treaty serve as a blanket that would safeguard gifts to all Canadian charities from such reporting, even if the charity is a trust?
- In the US, churches are automatically tax exempt. What if I want to donate to a church in a foreign country and that church happens to be structured as a trust?

[nelsona]

I wouldn't worry about it. You can, by the way, claim Cdm charitable donations on your US return, as long as you have sufficient Cdn income reported on the return to meet the deduction limits.