Not all donations are deductible
Posted on February 13th, 2008 – 7:06 PMBy Kara McGuire
I just gave some money to a fund set up for a sick friend. And I wondered if such a gift is tax deductible.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’d help someone I care about whether I get a tax break or not. But I’m trying to be more organized this year and if it were deductible, I’d want to put it in my 2008 taxes folder.
So I went over to IRS.gov and checked out its Charitable Contributions Publication 526. They have publications galore for your reading and searching pleasure there.And I found a handy list of donations that aren’t tax deductible:
- Money or property given to civic leagues, social and sports clubs, labor unions and chambers of commerce
- Most foreign organizations (except certain Canadian, Israeli and Mexican charities–hey I don’t make this stuff up)
- Groups that are run for personal property (you’d think that’s obvious, but we know someone out there’s gaming the system)
- Groups whose purpose is to lobby for law changes (I’d love clarification on what charity the IRS thinks doesn’t do this these days)
- Homeowners’ associations
- Individuals (like my friend)
- Political groups or candidates
- Cost of raffle, bingo, lotto tickets
- Country club dues, fees to lodges or fraternal orders or other orgs of that nature
- Tuition
- Value of your time or service
- Value of blood given to the blood bank (how much is blood even worth)
Whew!
Last year, we only donated a pathetic 1.5 percent of our income to charity. Part of the issue is without a giving plan in place, the giving was pushed towards the end of the year. Then I wanted to research new organizations and ran out of time. On the day after Christmas, I spent a hurried half an hour writing out checks and filling out online donation forms. This year, I hope to be more proactive.
How much do you give to charity?
3 Responses to "Not all donations are deductible"
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
We gave 15% last year to our church & charitable organizations and that was a stretch for us, but we are glad to be able to make a difference in small ways.
Besides my normal donations to church, arbor day, MPR, etc., this year I started alloting $20 a pay check for a different charity each time. It’s especially helpful to know I want to spend that much each paycheck, so that when I hear about a friend who’s raising money or something or read about an organization in the paper, I am grateful to have found the next charity to give to rather than feeling like everyone is asking for a hand out. Not much, but adds up to $520 extra over the course of the year.
