donations - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

If You Gave to Charity in 2023, Check to See That You Have Substantiation

Did you donate to charity last year? Acknowledgment letters from the charities you gave to may have already shown up in your mailbox. But if you don’t receive such a letter, can you still claim a deduction for the gift on your 2023 income tax return? It depends.

What the law requires

To prove a charitable donation for which you claim a tax deduction, you must comply with IRS substantiation requirements. For a donation of $250 or more, this includes obtaining a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charitable organization stating the amount of the donation, whether you received any goods or services in consideration for the donation and the value of any such goods or services.

“Contemporaneous” means the earlier of:

The date you file your tax return, or
The extended due date of your return.

Therefore, if you made a donation in 2023 but haven’t yet received substantiation from the charity, it’s not too late — as long as you haven’t filed your 2023 return. Contact the charity now and request a written acknowledgment.

Keep in mind that, if you made a cash gift of under $250 with a check or credit card, generally a canceled check, […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2024-01-31T17:09:24+00:00January 31st, 2024|charity, tax planning|0 Comments

Feeling Generous at Year End? Strategies for Donating to Charity or Gifting to Loved Ones

As we approach the holidays, many people plan to donate to their favorite charities or give money or assets to their loved ones. Here are the basic tax rules involved in these transactions.

Donating to charity

Normally, if you take the standard deduction and don’t itemize, you can’t claim a deduction for charitable contributions. But for 2021 under a COVID-19 relief law, you’re allowed to claim a limited deduction on your tax return for cash contributions made to qualifying charitable organizations. You can claim a deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions made during this year. This deduction increases to $600 for a married couple filing jointly in 2021.

What if you want to give gifts of investments to your favorite charities? There are a couple of points to keep in mind.

First, don’t give away investments in taxable brokerage accounts that are currently worth less than what you paid for them. Instead, sell the […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2021-11-09T18:37:38+00:00November 9th, 2021|charity|0 Comments

IRA Charitable Donations are an Alternative to Taxable Required Distributions

Are you charitably minded and have a significant amount of money in an IRA? If you’re age 70½ or older, and don’t need the money from required minimum distributions, you may benefit by giving these amounts to charity.

IRA distribution basics

A popular way to transfer IRA assets to charity is through a tax provision that allows IRA owners who are 70½ or older to give up to $100,000 per year of their IRA distributions to charity. These distributions are called qualified charitable distributions, or QCDs. The money given to charity counts toward the donor’s required minimum distributions (RMDs), but doesn’t increase the donor’s adjusted gross income or generate a tax bill.

So while QCDs are exempt from federal income taxes, other traditional IRA distributions are taxable (either wholly or partially depending on whether you’ve made any nondeductible contributions over the years).

Unlike regular charitable donations, QCDs can’t be claimed as itemized deductions.

Keeping the donation out of your AGI may be important because doing so can:

Help the donor qualify for other tax breaks (for example, a lower AGI can reduce the threshold for deducting medical expenses, which are only deductible to the extent they exceed […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:32+00:00November 5th, 2019|charity, ira, retirement|0 Comments

IRS Provides Tips for Year-end Gifts to Charity

The IRS has reminded taxpayers making year-end charitable contributions to keep in mind current tax law requirements. To claim a deduction, donated clothing and household items must be in good or better used condition; monetary donations must be substantiated by a bank record or written statement; donations worth $250 or more must be substantiated by a written acknowledgement that includes, among other things, a description of the items contributed; and special rules apply to donations of cars, boats and airplanes. Furthermore, only donations to eligible organizations are tax-deductible.

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:05:19+00:00December 1st, 2015|charity|0 Comments