Welcome Guest. Register Now!  


For 2009 Tips for tax year 2009


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 01-26-2010, 04:23 PM
Samatg's Avatar
Administrator
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 291
Post Ten Facts About Claiming Donations Made to Haiti

If you are donating to charities providing earthquake relief in Haiti, you may be able to claim those donations on your 2009 tax return. Here are 10 important facts the Internal Revenue Service wants you to know about this special provision.
  1. A new law allows you to claim donations for Haitian relief on your 2009 tax return, which you will be filing this year.
  2. The contributions must be made specifically for the relief of victims in areas affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.
  3. To be eligible for a deduction on the 2009 tax return, donations must be made after Jan. 11, 2010 and before March 1, 2010.
  4. In order to be deductible, contributions must be made to qualified charities and can not be designated for the benefit of specific individuals or families.
  5. The new law applies only to cash contributions.
  6. Cash contributions made by text message, check, credit card or debit card may be claimed on your federal tax return.
  7. You must itemize your deductions in order to claim these donations on your tax return.
  8. You have the option of deducting these contributions on either your 2009 or 2010 tax return, but not both.
  9. Contributions made to foreign organizations generally are not deductible. You can find out more about organizations helping Haitian earthquake victims from agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development ( U.S. Agency for International Development).
  10. Federal law requires that you keep a record of any deductible donations you make. For donations by text message, a telephone bill will meet the record-keeping requirement if it shows the name of the organization receiving your donation, the date of the contribution, and the amount given. For cash contributions made by other means, be sure to keep a bank record, such as a cancelled check or a receipt from the charity. Receipts should show the name of the charity, the date and amount of the contribution.
For more information see IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions and Publication 3833 , Disaster Relief: Providing Assistance through Charitable Organizations. To determine if an organization is a qualified charity visit IRS.gov, keyword "Search for Charities". Note that some organizations, such as churches or governments, may be qualified even though they are not listed on IRS.gov.

Links:YouTube Videos:



Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Reddit! stumble!bookmark in google!Share on Facebook!
Reply With Quote
Ads
Reply



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
House Approves Allowing Write-Offs of Haiti Donations in '09 Filings! TaxGuru For 2009 0 01-24-2010 12:18 PM
medical donations gls1982 Itemized Deductions 1 01-02-2010 06:06 PM
What is meant by Fair Market Value with respect to Donations? chrisk Miscellaneous 1 05-05-2008 11:35 PM
What are the IRS rules regarding 2007 donations of cars exceeding $500 in value? BebopVT Itemized Deductions 1 02-29-2008 03:35 PM
What are the rules for Non-Cash Donations not involving vehicles? Cooper Miscellaneous 1 02-29-2008 01:13 AM

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Google Buzz Rss Feeds

» Categories
 
Individual
 » Income
 » IRA/Sep
 » Medical
 
Corporations
 » Payroll
 
Forum for CPAs
 
Financial Planning
 
 
 

» Recent Tax Q&A
No Threads to Display.