Ways to Give - We need Your Support!

Taken from Kathy Zaffore: A dozen things to reduce taxes

MAKE A CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION – TAKE YOUR CHOICE AND
BE A BLESSING TO SOMEONE DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON:
• GIVE MONEY
You can use your credit card as long as the date processed is in 2008 (even if you don’t pay until January or even later). Or mail checks early because the charity may process your contribution on the date received rather than the date of post mark. For a gift over $250 at one time – you MUST get a receipt!!!! Your cancelled check is not good enough.

To give on line, simply go to your favorite charity’s web site –almost all allow you to make a contribution on line with a credit card. Otherwise, try www.guidestar.com .

For your friend who has everything, make a contribution in his/her name to his/her favorite charity. It is deductible to YOU.

• CLEAN OUT CLOSETS, GARAGE, KITCHEN AND MAKE A
CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION OF NONCASH GOODS TO
GOODWILL OR ARC OR DISABLED VETERANS ETC ETC.
To assure that your contribution is deductible – DOCUMENT it.
Take photos, make a list of items along with their original purchase price and their current thrift store value. BE REALISTIC. You can use www.itsdeductible.com as a guide, but remember that the IRS does NOT sanction that web site’s valuations. You are now required to have receipts to prove the purchase price. Just be aware of that. Get a signed and dated
receipt if your gift exceeds $250 per trip. Be sure to give us your lists to use in preparation of your tax return.

• GO SHOPPING
Pick up an “angel” ornament in almost any store or mall and buy a gift for someone who really needs a smile. Keep the receipt – it is deductible.

• CONSIDER GIVING AWAY THAT OLD CLUNKER CAR (OR BOAT OR TRAILER OR TIMESHARE OR…OTHER BIG THING).
If you give a car to charity before the end of the year, you could get a big deduction. Here are the rules, briefly. If the charity sells the car at auction, your deduction is the amount the car sold for and the charity will supply you (and the IRS)
with a 1099. If the charity will use the car in its mission or gift the car to a needy person, you will get a fair market value deduction and the charity will give you a letter indicating that it will indeed make use of the car itself. Big difference. Shop
around to find a charity that can use your car. If it isn’t running, how about a school for mechanics?? ☺

• VOLUNTEER MILEAGE IS DEDUCTIBLE!
If you drive your car to do volunteer work…your mileage is deductible. Pull together your log showing date, reason, and miles. Don’t overlook this deduction! If you drive thousands of miles, have the organization give you a letter thanking you for
driving A LOT (have them use your specific amount from your well maintained log). For 2008, the deduction is 14 cents per mile – which doesn’t sound like much, but if you drive 1,000 miles (a mere 20 miles a week) driving seniors to doctor appointments (for example), you will have a $140 deduction.

• GIVE WITHOUT GIVING A CENT
For a nondeductible, but ongoing gift, to your favorite charity, look at www.goodsearch.com. Goodsearch will give money to your charity EVERY TIME you do an on line search through Goodsearch. It works! Try it!