I’ve Got Fewer Non-Cash Tax-Deductible Donations To Give This Year
It's sad for my 2008 taxes, but maybe crummy deductions is a good thing?
For many years now, I’ve used a program now marketed by Intuit called “It’s Deductible”.
It started out in booklet form, which I still consider way more convenient than the computer program, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, this program lists the supposed fair market resale value of your used clothing and household items, so that you can come up with an IRS-approved valuation of your donations for tax-deduction purposes.
I’ve been frankly shocked by the generous values I’ve been able to assign to my non-cash charitable donations, which usually end up being carted to my local Goodwill Store. In fact, the money I’ve saved on our income tax bill each of the past five years has amounted to something of a part-time job for me. It’s made me feel a bit proud of myself to think of how I’ve (legally!) prevented Uncle Sam from getting his hands on even more of our money.
This year, though, was different. For one thing, no kids lived with us for even part of the year. Which means, of course, they weren’t here to move out, thereby not leaving half of all their stuff for us to dispose of. In addition, in the fall of 2007, after our youngest son moved into a house with his buddies, we did a major dejunking of every square inch of our property. What we didn’t sell, we gave away and took the tax deduction.
And finally, we resolved to STOP buying more stuff. Honestly, when you get to be a Late Boomer, if you’re anything like us, you’ve got as much stuff as you’ll ever need. I remember my grandmother telling us, when she was about my age, “Don’t buy me anything else I’ll have to dust.” Amen, Grandma!
So last week, I sat down to valuate my giveaway pile, and let me tell you, I was sorely disappointed. I compared the total value of all my non-cash donations to what I’ve given in previous years and wondered how on earth I could have come up with so little to give.
Was I being a cheapskate, ignoring the serious needs of the less fortunate? Was I becoming bizarrely sentimental about stuff I should obviously be getting rid of? Or could it be that my husband and I had actually succeeded in halting the flow of material possessions into our home?
Bingo! We have a winner!
Of course, that left me with the little problem of how to replace that lost tax deduction. Why, if I didn’t help out around here by continually shopping, storing, sorting, bagging up, and getting rid of stuff, I might have to get another real job!
Here’s the deal: Until the government cracks down on what they’ll surely end up calling loopholes in the tax code, there are other ways to get deductions. For me and my house, that means bigger contributions to our tax-deferred retirement accounts, fully funding our tax-advantaged health savings accounts, and writing a larger check to our favorite charity.
If the feds decided today to lose the non-cash donation deduction, I guess I could live with that. Especially since I’m finally not hauling home any more stuff.
Posted by
Katy on 01/04/09}
in
Personal Finance
What’s the maximum a person can take for the non-cash donation deduction? Even though we also have an empty nest, we still come up with lots of stuff left behind, when our tenants move out.
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Noncash contributions are listed on your Schedule A with other itemized deductions… so if you file a 1040EZ or if you don’t itemize, you can’t take a deduction for contributions.
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I think Goodwill provides information on how to value your donations based on the “fair market value” of comparable items. For example, the fair market value reflects the value of the items in their present condition not how much it cost to buy. The fair market value of a used shirt is far lower than than the cost of such at the time of purchase.Take a look and make sure that you are on the mark on your estimation.
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To claim charitable deductions you must file Form 1040 and use Schedule A. The total items on Schedule A must be more than the standard deduction for you to benefit from using Schedule A.
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I dont know i still trust my computer program to know more about the taxable and non taxable incomes.
i wish i could have used the intuit product, i could have saved some good money!
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/18/09 at 02:30 PM
I still trust my computer program to know more about the taxable and non taxable incomes.
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I work at Intuit so I am biased, but Quicken works really well for me. I started using the product when I was in high school and have never stopped. We have an online version and a desktop version.
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My company has about 10 old computers that we want to get rid of, and we figured it’s better to donate them than to just throw them out - and our accountant says we can get a tax deduction from the donation.
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You’ll find rules and limitations for what you can deduct for non-cash donations, and for other deductible expenses, in the instructions for 1040 Schedule A. To be deductible, the donation must be made to a qualifying organization.
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You’ll find rules and limitations for what you can deduct for non-cash donations, and for other deductible expenses, in the instructions for 1040 Schedule A. To be what you can deduct for non-cash donations, and for other deductible expenses, in the instructions for 1040 Schedule A. To be deductible, the donation must be made to a
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To be deductible, the donation must be made to a qualifying organization.
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The purpose of this article is to help you prepare Form 8283, Non-cash Charitable Contributions. The rules for reporting charitable contributions on your tax return are a bit tricky, so take your time as you read on. We’ll start with some of the basics on how to report what are known as non-cash charitable contributions on your federal personal income tax return.
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A deductible charitable contribution is a donation or gift made to a qualified organization. The donation must be made voluntarily and with no expectation of any substantial reward or benefit. You may generally contribute cash or property including food, clothing, household items, and vehicles. It is also possible to make charitable contributions of stocks or IRA funds.
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