{"id":449,"date":"2012-03-26T16:55:56","date_gmt":"2012-03-26T16:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=449"},"modified":"2012-04-29T21:19:21","modified_gmt":"2012-04-29T21:19:21","slug":"haiti-donations-new-rules-for-getting-a-tax-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=449","title":{"rendered":"HAITI DONATIONS: NEW RULES FOR GETTING A TAX BREAK"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Donate to a charity helping Haiti earthquake victims before March 1, and the Internal Revenue Service has some relief for you.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/external.ak.fbcdn.net\/safe_image.php?d=c3228db0fd2bfc8087952ac2bccb1498&amp;w=90&amp;h=90&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fi.bnet.com%2Fimages%2F200903%2Flg_moneywatch_white.gif\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/moneywatch.bnet.com\/saving-money\/article\/haiti-donations-new-rules-for-getting-a-tax-deduction\/395971\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Read Published Article on CBSMoneyWatch.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Under a new\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/article\/0,,id=218645,00.html\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">law<\/span><\/a>, you can actually write off a 2010 Haiti donation on your 2009 tax return if you itemize. (You can put the donation on your 2010 return next year if you prefer.) \u201cThis is quite unusual,\u201d says Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. \u201cBut there are a number of requirements to qualify for this break.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Here are the five key rules:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Your donation must be dated no later than February 28.<\/strong>\u00a0That means, if you\u2019re mailing a check, the postmark will need to be the 27; the 28<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0is a Sunday and post offices will be closed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your gift must be cash.<\/strong>\u00a0Donations of clothes or other goods won\u2019t qualify.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The charity must qualify as tax-deductible according to the IRS.<\/strong>\u00a0The agency\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/charities\/article\/0,,id=96136,00.html\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">Publication 78<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has a list of many approved groups. Churches, synagogues, mosques and government agencies are also eligible, even if they are not listed in Publication 78. But contributions made to foreign organizations generally are not deductible, so if you have your eye on a foreign charity, check to see if they have an American subsidiary. (For example, you can\u2019t claim a deduction for a donation directly to\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.msf.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res<\/span><\/a><\/em>, but you can deduct a gift to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.doctorswithoutborders.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">Doctors Without Borders<\/span><\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>You must be able to prove the donation was for Haiti relief.<\/strong>\u00a0Be sure you have documentation that your contribution was earmarked to help victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake. The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/clintonbushhaitifund.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">Clinton Bush Haiti Fund<\/span><\/a>qualifies, and MoneyWatch blogger Kathy Kristof has noted some\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/moneywatch.bnet.com\/saving-money\/blog\/devil-details\/haiti-quake-how-to-help\/1368\/\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">other groups worth considering<\/span><\/a>. For contributions made by cash, check, credit or debit card, you\u2019ll need either a bank record such as a cancelled check, a credit card statement, or a receipt from the charity. A receipt should show the name of the charity, the date of your donation and amount you gave. And if you zapped a text-message donation from your cell to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.redcross.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">American Red Cross<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/give.liveunited.org\/page\/contribute\/haiti\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">United Way<\/span><\/a>, or\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.crs.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #005399;\">Catholic Relief Services<\/span><\/a>, a phone bill will satisfy the recordkeeping requirement, as long as it has the required documentation for receipts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Donations of $250 or more will demand additional documentation.<\/strong>\u00a0For these gifts, you\u2019ll also need written acknowledgment from the charity showing whether the organization provided any goods or services in exchange for the gift.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"HAITI DONATIONS: NEW RULES FOR GETTING A TAX BREAK\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donate to a charity helping Haiti earthquake victims before March 1, and the Internal Revenue Service has some relief for you. Read Published Article on CBSMoneyWatch.com Under a new\u00a0law, you can actually write off a 2010 Haiti donation on your 2009 tax return if you itemize. (You can put the donation on your 2010 return [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"HAITI DONATIONS: NEW RULES FOR GETTING A TAX BREAK\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cbs-money-watch","tag-cbs-moneywatch"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YFQS-7f","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":451,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions\/451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}