charitable tax deductions

POLL: Are you in favor or against Obama's plan to limit tax deductions for charitable donations?

Are you a conservative or liberal? Http: / / online.wsj.com/article/SB123664427493678121.html Among those surprised by 2010, Obama's budget, the most striking are the true blue Liberals who manage the majority of nonprofits in the United States, universities and charities. How dare limit tax deductions for donations to charity! They fear that donations will be less, but should be more concerned that Obama's policies are pushing one aside in favor State of New Charity.

Contra. B. Hussein hates charitable donations and could not send his brother five dollars to repair his hut.

Charity & Christian Doctrine : How Do Charitable Tax Deductions Work?

Hi there! I am currently kicking myself…I’ve REALLY made a mess of my finances and record-keeping. See, I’m over 18, and yet this is the first time I’ve ever tried doing my taxes myself. in the past it’s been 95% my father doing the work, 5% me running around, confused, trying to find forms he says I need and that I don’t remember getting but must have put…somewhere. Now, I highly doubt I’ll ever meet any of you in person, so your opinions really shouldn’t matter, but before I go into this next part I feel compelled to just add here that i am NOT an idiot…well…not usually. When it comes to finances, though, I’m finding that general rule of thumb just doesn’t apply.

So here’s the story. I’ve always been pretty entrepreneurial, doing some freelance writing, ebay selling, babysitting, event planning, stuff like that. For 2009, though, my primary income, in addition to waitressing, was 1) babysitting and 2) advertising/marketing writing–to be specific, working on commission to sell stuff for folks. I kept TERRIBLE records (i.e. none), not because I was trying to be dishonest or piss of the IRS, but because I just didn’t think about it. So you can imagine what a disaster my trying to file this year has been! The only good records were from the waitressing job–about k–which has been the majority of my income. Other tax form areas I saw and for which I REALLY wished I had better info: medical expenses and charity. If I’d kept better records for both, I think taxes could have been SIGNIFICANTLY less than they turned out to be (about k total (federal and state), but even more–about 00–before I fix the error i made when sending in the first return. I think this is called an amendment…will this increase my chances of an audit?)

I also found out I’m supposed to pay quarterly estimated taxes, which I will start doing as soon as i get the error straightened out.

So here’s my basic question. Starting now through the end of the year (and beyond, of course:)), I plan on keeping very good records. I’ll be keeping track of:

1) medical expenses
2) charity work/donations

For these I’m confused about several things. First, the standard deduction? I heard I should usually take this for medical and charity, and that medical has to be at least 7.5% of income to qualify (which mine always is).

Then there’s the ever-intimidating:
3) Business finances.

As I understand it, I am considered to "own" two different businesses. One is babysitting (which I do in the family’s home), the other, "advertising/marketing services."

For babysitting, the kids live a quarter mile from me, so I’m not planning on trying to figure out deductions related to driving. what I’m planning to do in for this is just record each time I get paid (day and amount), and my expenses (almost all of which are me buying stuff for the kids during the day–the parents reimburse me for those when I get paid, so I’ll just make a note of them.)

For the writing/advertising, though, it gets a bit more complicated. Sometimes I take on big projects for folks who are losing their homes and need everything out by a specific date. For instance, last month I did a 3 1/2-week job for a guy who owned a four-bedroom house, everything still inside. I coordinated estate sales, private sales, listed stuff on craigslist and in different forums, etc. The guy lived almost 30 miles away, and I was constantly driving back and forth to meet potential buyers. On several occasions I also had to hire folks to help with the sales when I couldn’t be there at a specific time. There were lots of miscellanious expenses, etc. and some people we even paid in "stuff."

What I’m planning to do for this second biz from now on is to record each time a sale is made, what my commission is (if it’s not something I bought to re-sell), and what my expenses are. I’ll also try to log mileage as it occurs.

As for other deductions, I think it might be a good idea to just leave those alone, because almost everything I use for my business (computer, car, etc.) is also for personal use. So that whole "home office" deduction would definitely not apply, because my "office" is the computer in my bedroom (and I don’t pay rent), and my "inventory," when I’m buying and re-selling rather than just working on commission, is just piles of whatever stuff it is I’m marketing.

When it comes time to file those 2010 taxes, is this going to be pretty much the majority of what I’ll need? Other than the w-2 from my waitressing job and the (miniscule) statement from my stock shares, have I covered everything I’ll need? and if not, what else should I be aware of? I want to make sure NOTHING like this EVER happens again!!!

Thank you so much for any input you can provide!

A business asks it’s customers to buy items from their store, and pay for them mind you, and place them into a donation basket for a good charity. Then the store manager turns in the "donation", gets a receipt from the charity, and uses it for a tax deduction. How right is this? Is it wrong? Give me your opinion. 10 points to the one who makes me believe their point of view!
Emilie: You didn’t answer the question, it happens all the time in the area where I live. I’m just wondering if people think this is a right thing to do or if it’s really cheating since the store received $ for the "donated" items.
Devil: That’s not an answer either, are there any intelligent people on here? Someone?

I work with a local charity helping them by maintaining their registration and donation databases. I am technically a 1099 employee, but I only bill them once or twice a year for a token amount, usually around 0 total.

Recently, they asked if I would be willing to be paid in full for my work (around 00-5000/yr) and donate that back to the center. I suspect it is so they can show higher giving amounts. From a tax stand point, would I be exposing myself to a bigger liability by doing that, or would it all just wash?

I don’t take a deduction for volunteer time because it is more hassle to me than it is worth, but I do 1099 work for business, so that approach is much cleaner for me.

Here’s my situation:

-I made about ,000 in 2007 from my employer (W2).
-I have an at-home business and made 0 (1099-MISC and in bonus income)
-I participated in a student loan redemption program which gave me 00 towards my student loan debt. (1099-MISC).

–I was able to claim about 0 in expenses for my business and donated 0 to charity. I had no other major deductions.

When I compute my taxes using TurboTax–I went from a 00 refund to owing over 0. Does this seem right?
I know that there are no taxes taken out of $$ earned on 1099. I just thought it sounded like I owed more then I should.

Money owed is 0+ to feds and 0+ to state. I filed W4 with 1 dependent (is that the right term?)
Forgot to add that I did claim the max amount of student loan interest allowed for my income level–00.

I want to claim 7 allowances, my payroll manager said that was an awful lot. She would not offer any "adivse" or help to determine the number. So am I crazy? Perhaps someone out here can help me out…

I am filing jointly.
I make 000 with 00 annual bonus
My wife makes 000 with no regular bonus
No significant dividends, interest, etc.

Itemized Deductions:
000 Total Mortgage Interest for the year
00 Property Tax
0 Ad Volerum Tax (My State’s "Birthday" Tax)
00 State Tax
0 Charity
0 Car Loan Interest (does this even qualify?)
00 Business Mileage (this was reimbursed, do I still use it?)
00 Health Insurance (this may be pre-taxed?)
50 My 401K contribution (this may be pre-taxed?)
50 My Wife’s 401K contribution (again might be pre-taxed?)
No Children

I am guessing whatever the magic number is that I would do that only one W4, and would claim 0 on the other form…
In response to the third reply:

I was under the impression that deductions were most definitely revelant to Allowances you would claim. Is this not true? Isn’t the point to claim enough allowances so that you are very close to what you actually owe at the end of the year after deductions and credits.

Also, I was about 99% sure the Car Loan, Mileage, 401K, and Health Insurance did not qualify. I just wanted to check.

I have a bunch that I want to get rid of, but I don’t want to simply throw them out and selling them on eBay or craigslist isn’t worth the time. The money I’d get would probably match the deduction I’d get for the fair-market value of the items. So, if there’s a charity that would take them, I could do this and be rid of them, but I can’t think of one that would take them. Certainly not the thrift operations, for moral and probably business reasons (lack of space).

So, can anyone think of a charity that would?

I am a homemaker/freelance graphic designer. I typically work 3-4 hours a day from my home. I do not charge/get paid/accept any money for the work I do. I do this as Charity or volunteer work to help churches/new businesses/non-profit groups. I do purchase a lot of office supplies to complete all my projects. Are there any tax deductions that I could take advantage of? Is my situation considered to be a home-based business even though I do not accept payment?
Are freelancers required to have a business license? I live in Maryland.

Hello, I have a question about taxes. I am 24, just out of college, living with my parents, and currently self-employed. This will be my first year filing independently, and I was wondering if I will be able to get any money back. I only made a little over ,000 (in taxable income) for 2008. I was technically not enrolled in college during 2008, but I was finishing my Sr. Project and writing my Sr. Paper. The ,000 was made through my own business, so no taxes were taken from that amount. I have many different expenses and deductions that I can write off, and I was wondering if I get money back even though I have not paid any taxes. I gave at least ,000 to charity, I can write off ,500 in interest on my student loans, and I have business expenses that I can also write off. So, again I really have no idea how taxes work, but my write-offs and deductions exceed my income more than twice. So, I was just wondering how that works- like does it just makes my taxable income {content}, do I get money back, or what?

Thanks for your help!

I understand that some churches do charitable work and I would fully support a tax deduction for charity. However many churches own lots of real estate, limo’s and luxury items.