The IRS has just tightened up the rules for the 2007 tax year regarding charitable donations. You now need a receipt for all charitable donations no matter how small. Until this year, only donations that were greater than $250 required a receipt. So when you put $20 in the church collection plate, make sure you put it in a donation envelope and write your name on it. Your church can then send you a statement at the end of the year showing all your donations.
My best advice is to write a check for those small donations and skip throwing your change in the bell ringer’s holiday kettle when shopping.
Non-cash donation rules have also changed. You can now only deduct the value of donated household items and clothing that are in at least good condition to charity. You can not deduct what you paid for them only the fair market value of each item. So the value of that string bikini you can’t fit into anymore is probably approximately $15. If you want to know what the item might be worth look it up on the Salvation Army’s valuation guide on its website.
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn.nsf/vw-sublinks/85256DDC007274DF80256B80003D22FC?openDocument
Libby Mihalka
The Financial Pragmatist
No comments:
Post a Comment