IRS Offers Tax Tips on Giving to Charity

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

The 2014 tax year is almost over and that means tax filing season is just around the corner.

With that in mind, Internal Revenue Service Spokesman Mark Green is offering some year-end tax tips for people to consider, especially when it comes to holiday charitable giving.

“This is the season of giving and the IRS just wants to encourage taxpayers to take advantage of the end of year tax deductions that they can claim on next year’s tax return,” Green said. “But it’s very important you keep your receipts . That’s the most important thing; especially if you’re giving away cash, household items, or even donating your time.”

Green said if someone wants to claim a tax deduction for giving, they must itemize their deductions.

He added that there are several tax rules people should know before giving.

First, people can only deduct gifts given give to qualified charities.

Green said there is an easy way to find out which charities are legitimate and tax deductible.

“There are two ways. One, you can visit our Web site where we have a list of qualified charities. Secondly, you can ask the organization if they are a 501c-3 tax exempt group. Also, donations to churches are automatically tax deductible even though they are not on our list,” Green said.

Also, he said to give money and deduct it on a tax return, there must be a bank record or a written statement from the charity. This is true regardless of the amount of the gift.

Finally, Green said someone can give as much as he or she can afford to anyone, even if they are not related, up to $14,000.

He explained that kind of giving falls under the Annual Gift Tax Exclusion.

“It allows an individual to either donate to education or if an individual needs medical assistance, you can donate directly to a hospital or medical institution as a gift,” Green said. “But the cap is $14,000 a year. Anything over that would exceed the lifetime gift of $5.3 million.”

For more year-end tax tips, people can go online to www.irs.gov.

For those who do not have access to the Internet or want to speak with an IRS representative over the phone, people can call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-829-1040 for tax information.