If you made a charitable donation over the past year you may be wondering what you can write off on your taxes.

You may want to make a donation for the sake of the holiday season or to use it as a tax deduction (or both).  Keep in mind, only if you are itemizing your deductions while filing your taxes, you can write off charitable donations to those falling within “Qualified Organizations” list.

Charitable Contribution Deduction Facts:

• You may deduct charitable contributions of money or property that you made to a qualified organization only if you itemize your deductions on Form 1040 .
• Generally charitable deduction limits are up to 50% of your adjusted gross income
• Contributions must be paid in cash or other forms of property before the end of the tax year in order to be deductible when itemizing your tax deductions
• For items of property (items other than cash) donated, the fair market value of the item will be deducted on your tax return.
• When making donations, it’s best to write checks (that way you can easily track your offerings)
• The IRS  Publication 526 explains Charitable Contributions and tax deductible donations.

What Organizations are considered “Qualified Organizations” to donate to?

In order to consider a charitable contribution a tax deduction when itemizing your deductions it must be made to certain types of organizations. The list of qualified organizations is as follows: Continue reading “What Types of Donations are Tax Deductible?”