Charitable Contributions Deduction Liberalized for 2021

Article Highlights: Charitable Contributions for Non-Itemizers  Penalties for Contribution Overstatement  Cash Contributions for Itemizers  Substantiation Requirements  As a means to stimulate charitable contributions during the COVID crisis, Congress made two notable changes for 2020—one allowing taxpayers that don’t itemize their deductions an above-the-line deduction for cash contributions of up to $300 and another for those […]

Proving Noncash Charitable Contributions

One of the most common tax-deductible charitable contributions encountered is that of household goods and used clothing. The major complication of this type of contribution is establishing the dollar value of the contribution. According to the tax code, this is the fair market value (FMV), which is defined as the value that a willing buyer […]

Don’t Be Scammed By Fake Charities

Article Highlights: Scammers and charitable contributions How to check on legitimate charities Disaster scammers As the end of the year approaches, you will probably be besieged by requests from charitable organizations for contributions. The holiday season is the favorite time of the year for charities to solicit donations. But you should be aware that it […]

Should You Itemize Your Deductions for Taxes?

Article Highlights: Who Qualifies for the Standard Deduction Who Is Not Allowed to Use the Standard Deduction Income Limitations for Itemized Deductions Phase-out of Itemized Deductions Looking ahead to the filing season for this year’s tax returns, a frequent question is whether you should keep track of tax-deductible expenditures or simply settle for the standard […]

Will Your Deductions Be Cut to Solve Deficit Woes?

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (JSC) is set to convene soon with the goal of reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion. How will they come up with that amount? Some sources think they may consider fundamental tax changes that include cutbacks to itemized deductions for individuals. Although both parties purport to be against […]