IRS Year End Tips for Charitable Giving

IRS has tips for you as you start to think about making charitable gifts this year. You can find the Tax Tips here, but we have reprinted much of the pertinent information for you:

Qualified charities. You can only deduct gifts you give to qualified charities. Use the IRS Select Check tool to see if the group you give to is qualified. Remember that you can always deduct donations you give to churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and government agencies.

Monetary donations. Gifts of money include those made in cash or by check, electronic funds transfer, credit card and payroll deduction. You must have a bank record or a written statement from the charity to deduct any gift of money on your tax return, regardless of the amount of the gift. Although there are more details on the IRS Tax Tips website, remember that if you give by payroll deductions, you should retain a pay stub, a Form W-2 wage statement or other document from your employer, and it must have all the pertinent information.

Household goods. Household items include furniture, furnishings, electronics, appliances and linens. If you donate clothing and household items to charity they generally must be in at least good used condition to claim a tax deduction. If you claim a deduction of over $500 for an item it doesn’t have to meet this standard if you include a qualified appraisal of the item with your tax return.

Records required. You must get a written acknowledgment from a charity for each deductible donation of $250 or more, whether the donation was made in cash or in goods. Additional rules apply to the statement for gifts of that amount. This statement is in addition to the records required for deducting cash gifts.

Year-end gifts. You can deduct contributions in the year you make them. If you charge your gift to a credit card before the end of the year it will count for 2014. This is true even if you don’t pay the credit card bill until 2015. Also, a check will count for 2014 as long as you mail it in 2014.

Special rules for a vehicle. Special rules apply if you give a car, boat or airplane to charity.

For more information on all of this, visit IRS.gov and the IRS Tax Tips site.