Charitable giving, nonprofit tax rules, and what donors and organizations need to know to give (and receive) the right way.
Taxpayer asks: Hello there and thank you for answering my question. I am self-employed and contributed nearly $8,000 in cash/noncash donations this past year (goodwill, church, habitat for humanity). When my friend did my taxes on her computer program it did not reflect a deduction upon entering the charitable donation information. I have all proper…
Taxpayer asks: we’ve been trained that cookie donations are not tax deductible. Can u clarify? Taxgirl says: This question is actually in response to something that I posted on twitter about the Girl Scout “Cookies from Home” program. I thought it was a good question and I posted my gut reply which was: As a…
Taxpayer asks: While we were out shopping, I put a $20 in the Salvation Army kettle in front of the store. I say we can take that as a deduction but my husband says no. Who is right? P.S. I have a new digital camera riding on your answer. Taxgirl says: Gosh. I hope your…
A number of years ago, a chubby teenage girl from rural North Carolina piled into a van with some friends and headed to the great city of New Orleans. It was summer, hot and humid, even for those of us used to it. We were armed with craft supplies, loads energy and great ideas –…
When all else fails, hit ’em in the pocketbook… This week, supporters of Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage in California, released an ad, pictured above. The ad claims that under current law, gay marriage would be promoted in public schools and warned that churches which opposed same-sex unions would lose their tax exempt…
My maternal grandmother may be responsible for my current coffee addiction. She used to let me drink a little bit of coffee – with a lot of milk – as she drank her own coffee (all day long). It was the beginning of a life long love affair, though now I drink it black, the…
Does the name Tony Alamo ring a bell? It should. The controversial evangelist, now 74 years old, has been making headlines for more than 25 years. The flashy Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman in small town Missouri. Jewish by birth, Alamo married Edith Opal Horn, who was also Jewish. Alamo claims to have converted…
Taxpayer asks: Hi, I run an ice cream (IC) shop and give away lots of IC to local charities (churches, schools, scout’s, 4H, …). The business is an LLC and I have 2 partners (we all get K-1’s). Can I deduct the retail value of these donations? Obviously, the my cost of the food supplies…
Perhaps. It depends on who you are and exactly what you’re saying… Take Pastor James David Manning of Atlah World Ministries, for example. The IRS won’t advise whether is being investigated or not. But it is clear that Pastor Manning is generating some publicity for his statements earlier in the year, in which he repeatedly…
We’ve been talking a lot about charitable orgs lately on Taxgirl.com – due in large part to a great session that I attended at BlogHer. This week, one of the bloggers on the business channel, Miki over at Leadership Turn, gave us the heads up on an organization called Any Soldier that helps provide care…