As you prepare your income tax return, you may find yourself asking the question – how do I determine if a charitable contribution is deductible? In addition, you may have questions about just how to file for the various deductions – such as non-cash deductions, like contributions to Goodwill for example.
The IRS recently published their Tax Tip 2012-57, which lists eight tips regarding charitable contributions that you may find useful. The text of the Tax Tip is included here:
Deducting Charitable Contributions: Eight Essentials
Donations made to qualified organizations may help reduce the amount of tax you pay.
The IRS has eight essential tips to help ensure your contributions pay off on your tax return.
If your goal is a legitimate tax deduction, then you must be giving to a qualified organization. Also, you cannot deduct contributions made to specific individuals, political organizations or candidates. See IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, for rules on what constitutes a qualified organization.
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