Do Some Charity Before It’s Too Late

For most people, the end of the year is usually a time to take it slow and spend your days with family and friends.  Work takes a backseat until the start of the new year.

Working in the optical world is the complete opposite.  It’s a madhouse!  Appointment books are full and patience is thin as everyone and their mother (literally) is scrambling to get eye exams, glasses and contacts before their insurance benefits and flex spending dollars reset.

(This is one reason I favor Health Savings Accounts over FSA money.  HSA accounts are portable and never expires.)

But there is one other thing people should be rushing to do during the last week of the year…GIVE!  Give away to charity that is.

Giving to charity is something we should do anyways if we have the means.  The rich hoarding wealth is one of the main problems in the world today.  But if you’re eligible for a tax deduction, it can save you some money come tax time along with that warm and fuzzy feeling.

And with the next tax law coming into effect in 2018, many people should be looking to maximize charitable contributions this year.

Standard or Itemize?

Here is the official IRS statement on charitable contributions:

You can only deduct charitable contributions if you itemize deductions on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF)Itemized Deductions.

To be deductible, you must make charitable contributions to qualified organizations. Contributions to individuals are never deductible. To determine if the organization that you contributed to qualifies as a charitable organization for income tax deduction purposes, refer to our Exempt Organizations Select Check tool. For more information, see Publication 526Charitable Contributions and Can I Deduct My Charitable Contributions?

What this means is that if you want your charitable contributions to be tax deductible, you need to be able to itemize your deductions.  Common itemized deduction expenses include mortgage interest, state and local income taxes, property taxes, medical expenses and, of course, charitable contributions.

If the total of these expenses is greater than the standard deduction, than you would save more money on taxes by choosing to itemize your deductions.  If itemized deductions don’t exceed the standard deduction amount, you should go with the standard deduction.

For tax year 2017, the standard deduction for single filers is $6,350 and for married filers it is $12,700.  With the new tax plan that takes into effect in 2018 (thanks Trump), single filers will see a standard deduction of $12,000 and married filers will jump up to $24,000.

Contribute to Charity…Now!

Meaning that those people who normally take the standard deduction and don’t come close to meeting the necessary expenses in order to itemize…rejoice!  Your deduction will almost double with no effort on your part.  For these filers, the charitable contribution deduction never applied anyway.

But there will be many people who can itemize deductions in 2017 but won’t be able to in 2018.  For these people charitable contributions will be deductible for 2017 but not 2018.  That means they can deduct charity to their heart’s content for the last week of the year since they won’t be able to next year.

There are many things that can count as charitable contributions.  Cash is the easiest thing to donate, but you can also donate clothing, furniture, stocks and even your time.  Make a list of a few charities that resonate with you and contact them to see what is deductible.

All charitable contributions must be made in 2017 to be considered deductible when you do your taxes in April.  So take advantage of this last week to get that charity money in.  Just like FSA dollars, this time it’s use it or lose it!

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Comments

  1. I’m thinking about sponsoring a school in Ghana. My bday’s in February, so it’ll be a nice present to myself 🙂

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