Hello Folks,
Welcome to another tax season!
When preparing your list of charitable
gifts, remember to review your checkbook register so you don’t leave any
out. Everyone remembers to count the
monetary gifts they make to their favorite charities, but you should
count non cash donations
as well. Make it a priority to always get a receipt for
every gift. Keep your receipts. If your contribution totals more than $250,
you'll also need an acknowledgement from the charity documenting the support
you provided. Remember that you’ll have to itemize to claim this deduction, but
when filing, the expenses incurred while doing charitable work often is not
included on tax returns.
You can’t deduct the value of your time
spent volunteering, but if you buy supplies for a group, the cost of that
material is deductible as an itemized charitable donation. Similarly, if you
wear a uniform in doing your good deeds (for example, as a hospital volunteer
or youth group leader), you can also count the costs of that apparel and any
cleaning bills as charitable donations.
You can also claim a charitable deduction
for the use of your vehicle for charitable purposes, such as delivering meals
to the homebound in your community or taking your child’s Scout troop on an
outing. For 2015, the IRS will let you deduct that travel at 14 cents per mile.
Every little deduction helps! Good luck!
Brian
