Gifts to Charity Menu

The only charitable contributions that are deductible are those made to qualified organizations. Organizations that are considered qualified are those that are run solely for religious, scientific, literary, educational or charitable purposes, to prevent children or animal cruelty or to develop amatuer sports. To know whether an organization is a qualified one, check out Publication 526 - Charitable Contributions.

Types of Qualified and Non-Qualified Organizations

Qualified Organizations	Non-Qualified Organizations
Religious Organizations such as Churches, temples, mosques, etc. Non-profit organizations. For instance, Red Cross. Non-Profit Colleges Non-profit museums Non-Profit hospitals and medical research organizations Non-profit volunteer fire companies, non profit organizations that develop public parks etc Federal, state and local governments if the contributions are for public purposes only	Civic leagues, social or sports clubs, labor unions and chambers of commerce Foreign organizations with the exception of certain Canadian, Israeli and Mexican charities - Refer to IRS Pub. 526 Homeowners associations Political groups or individuals Individuals

Examples of Deductible and Non-Deductible Charitable Contributions

Deductible Charitable Contributions	Non-Deductible Charitable Contributions
Funds given to a qualified charitable organization Property donated to a qualified charitable organization Travel expenses incurred from performing services for a charitable organization Unreimbursed auto expenses such as oil, gas, mileage, parking fees and tolls	Political contributions Contributions to specific individuals Contributions to a non-qualified organization Value of time and services Qualified charitable deductions from an IRA Contributions to organizations engaged in lobbying for law changes or the taxpayer's trade or business

Cash Contributions - Key in the sum of all the contributions made including out of pocket expenses suffered while performing services for charitable organizations. The exact cost of gas and oil used as you performed services should be included on this line. Alternatively, the charitable mileage of the taxpayer may be entered below.

If you want to create an itemized deduction, press the F10 key on your keyboard, click on New, then provide a description of the contribution as well as the amount.

Charitable Mileage - Either the actual amount spent on gas and oil used during service performance for a qualified charitable organization or the standard charitable mileage rate can be deducted by the taxpayer. On this line, enter either the actual expenses above or the total charitable mileage.

Qualified Disaster Cash Contributions Made in 2018 - Taxpayers can choose to regard gifts by cash or cheques as qualified contributions in the event that;

The gift was paid to some qualified charitable organization in 2018
The gift was intended as relief efforts in the disaster place of a federally declared disaster
A written statement from the qualified charitable organization communicating that the contribution was utilized for relief efforts was acquired by the taxpayer

The adjusted gross income limitation does not apply to qualified disaster cash contributions.

Non-Cash More than $500 - all the non cash deductions that are more than $500 need to have Form 8283 completed for them and attached to the tax return.

Non-cash Less Than or Equal to $500 - Enter the sum of the contributions of property other than by cash or check. The fair market value of the contributed property (on the donation date) limits the deductions.

Total Current Year Contributions - Taxx Savage Pro computes this amount depending on the entries from the lines above.

Carryover from Prior Year - in the event that the contribution of the taxpayer gets limited depending on the adjusted gross income, the unallowed part can be carried over in to each of the next 5 years. The program automatically pulls the carryover amount from the previous year return. These amounts may be manually entered in the event that the return was not pulled forward from the previous year.

Current Year Contribution Limits - the program automatically computes the sum of the present year cash and non cash contribution limits.

Additional Information:

IRS Publication 526 - Charitable Contributions

Schedule A Instructions

IRS Tax Topic 506 - Charitable Contributions