I lost my donation receipt, or I'm not sure it's genuine — what do I check?

Check your receipt has all of this

Whether a receipt would hold up if LHDN or your accountant queried it comes down to one checklist. LHDN's current guideline for organisations approved under subsection 44(6), dated 23 October 2025, sets out exactly what an approved organisation's receipt format has to contain ^[2]. Look for:

1. Malay, or bilingual Malay and English.
2. The organisation's name and address.
3. A unique, preprinted serial receipt number — issued once and never reused.
4. The date of the receipt.
5. Your name, together with your IC number, passport number or business-registration number (whichever applies to you), and your correspondence address.
6. The amount you gave.
7. The position of whoever collected the donation — for example, President or Treasurer.
8. A fixed note, usually in the bottom-left corner, naming the organisation's own subsection 44(6) approval reference number and the period it's valid for.

If you were given a receipt electronically rather than on paper, the organisation needed its own separate approval to issue it that way, unless it was a proper e-Invoice ^[2].

Practical tips:

• Hold your receipt up against this list before you file. A missing serial number or blank reference footer is worth asking the organisation about first.
• If your own details — name, IC number, address — are missing or wrong, fix that first. A complete receipt isn't supposed to exist without them ^[2].

Your receipt is missing your IC number or address

This isn't the organisation being nosy. LHDN's guideline says a receipt is not eligible to be given to a donor whose full particulars — name, current IC or passport number, and address — aren't on file ^[2]. That requirement only applies when the receipt is meant to be tax-deductible; a plain acknowledgement of your gift needs no identity number at all.

If you want the deduction, give the organisation your correct name, identity number and address, and ask them to reissue the receipt with that information added. If you'd rather not share your IC number, you can still be given an ordinary receipt as proof of payment — you just won't be able to claim it as a tax deduction. See Why do charities ask for your IC? for why this specific detail matters and when it's actually required.

Practical tips:

• Check the IC or passport number printed matches the document you hold — a typo is as good as a missing number.
• Giving on behalf of a company rather than as an individual? Ask for the receipt to carry the company's business-registration number, not your personal IC.

You gave by bank transfer and never got a receipt

A bank-in or online transfer that arrives with no name attached is still money, but nobody at the organisation can issue a tax-deductible receipt until they know who sent it ^[2]. The fix starts with you: contact the organisation with the transfer date, amount and any reference number, plus your name and identity details, so they can match the payment and issue a receipt with your full particulars.

Practical tips:

• When you make a bank-in gift, put your name in the transfer reference field if your bank allows it — it saves a follow-up call later.
• Keep your bank statement or transfer confirmation until the receipt arrives, in case the organisation needs it to confirm the match.

Getting a lost receipt reissued

If you've simply misplaced a receipt, ask the organisation for a copy. What comes back should carry the same original receipt number as the one you lost, not a new one — receipt numbers under LHDN's rule are meant to be issued once and never reused, so a proper reissue reproduces the original rather than creating a second, competing receipt for the same gift ^[2].

You have your own reason to hold onto it once you get it back: LHDN's individual e-Filing guidance says to keep the receipts behind your tax return for seven years from the end of the year that return was filed ^[3]. See Is my donation tax-deductible? if you're unsure the gift qualifies at all, and Claiming donation tax relief for what to do once you have a valid receipt.

Practical tips:

• Ask for the reissue by donation date and amount if you don't remember the receipt number — most organisations can look it up.
• If anything on the original was wrong (a misspelled name, a wrong amount), say so — it should be corrected under the same number, not left as a second version.

How to tell whether a receipt is genuine

There's no separate "authenticity" test — it's the same checklist as above. A receipt from an approved organisation should carry every item on that list, especially the unique serial number and the fixed footer note naming the organisation's approval reference and validity period ^[2]. A receipt missing those, or with a blank or generic footer, is worth asking about directly.

One more thing worth knowing: an organisation's approval covers specific funds, not everything it collects. Even a receipt that ticks every box on the checklist isn't for a deductible gift if it was issued for a fund the organisation's approval doesn't actually name ^[1][2]. If you're unsure, ask the organisation to confirm their approval covers whatever you gave to — don't assume the format alone settles it.

Practical tips:

• Ask the organisation directly if anything on the receipt looks off — a legitimate one can explain every line.
• Still doubtful after asking? LHDN or your own tax advisor can confirm whether the organisation's approval was current for the date and fund of your gift.