Tax Deductible Charitable Contributions

As the Thanksgiving and Christmas Seasons approach us, many are making charitable donations. If you are considering to use your donations as a tax deduction, please remember that not all donations will be considered a tax deduction once Tax Season rolls around.

Here is a summary of the IRS Tax Tip 2017-77, November 17, 2017 (https://www.irs.gov/…/five-facts-about-charitable-contribut…)

Five Facts about Charitable Contributions:

Qualified Charities. A taxpayer must donate to a qualified charity to deduct their contributions. Gifts to individuals, political organizations, or candidates are not deductible. To check the status of a charity, taxpayers can use Exempt Organizations Select Check on IRS.gov(https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/)

Itemize Deductions. To deduct charitable contributions, taxpayers must file Form 1040 and itemize their deductions.

Getting Something in Return. Taxpayers may receive something in return for their donation. Taxpayers can only deduct the amount of the donation that’s more than the fair market value of the item they received. To figure their deduction, a taxpayer would subtract the value of the item received from the amount of their donation.

Type of Donation. For donations of property instead of cash, a taxpayer can only deduct the fair market value of the donated item.

Donations of $250 or More. If a taxpayer donates $250 or more in cash or goods, they must have a written receipt from the charity. The statement must show: • The amount of the donation. • A description of any property given. • Whether the taxpayer received any goods or services in exchange for their gift, and, if so, must provide a description and good faith estimate of the value of those goods or services.

Taxpayers can also use the Interactive Tax Assistant, Can I Deduct my Charitable Contributions? This tool helps determine if charitable contribution is deductible. (https://www.irs.gov/…/can-i-deduct-my-charitable-contributi…)

Should you have any questions, call or text me at (808) 677-9809; Or message me at https://www.facebook.com/ragasataxservice/