Paddington Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I'm not sure that I believe that, but would anybody care to debate it with me anyways? I think you have to give over 4 or 5 thousand before any donation counts in a tax way for one thing. (Correct that if it is needed.) It is tax deductible to give to: - abortion - lying political thingies that don't have a chance - lying politicical thingies that do have a chance - false religious teachers - groups that do some good and some harm - groups that try to do good and sadly fail - nice programs that pit the interests of one person against another (such as job training) Anywho.....that is the start of an argument. It goes thru my mind from time to time. Peace, Paddington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotRod Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 There is no minimum limit of giving before your charitable contributions are tax deductible. The confusion is this, if you don't normally itemize you would have to donate enough to bring all your deductions up past the amount of the standard deduction, and I don't remember how much that is. Since I itemize my returns anyways, ANY contribution I make, is just added onto the "pile" of deductions, even if it was only $10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddington Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 (edited) [quote name='HotRod' post='1441681' date='Jan 3 2008, 07:15 PM']There is no minimum limit of giving before your charitable contributions are tax deductible. The confusion is this, if you don't normally itemize you would have to donate enough to bring all your deductions up past the amount of the standard deduction, and I don't remember how much that is. Since I itemize my returns anyways, ANY contribution I make, is just added onto the "pile" of deductions, even if it was only $10.[/quote] I guess I am confused then. But, I'm pretty sure the H & R lady told me that. BTW, how do you itemize? It doesn't sound difficult. So I don't know why I wouldn't have done it. Edited January 3, 2008 by Paddington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotRod Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 (edited) itemize means to add up all of your tax-deductable items for the year, item by item. I'll use a young single apartment renter as an example... church tith, 2,500 and for a lot of young renters, that would be it. So say the standard deduction is $12,500. You deduct the larger of the 2, your itemized list or the standard. This person would have to donate over 10,000 to beat the standard and see any tax benefit. a $20 donation to planned parenthood wouild have no tax benefit for this person. Another tax payer item by item adds up to 15,000 (home loan interest, day care expenses, etc) Since they are over the standard deduction, everything just adds to their final total. A $20 donation to planned parenthood would have a small tax benefit for this person. understand? Probably in your situation, you would have to donate a lot of $ to see any tax benifit. so, quick answer to your question why you don't itemize, i would guess because your itemized list would fall far short of the standard deduction. Edited January 3, 2008 by HotRod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotRod Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 But on to the debate, yes I think the IRS should be more stringent in deciding what and what is not a charitable organization. Maybe someone here knows what that criteria is? Maybe any non-profit or tax free organization qualifies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddington Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Thanks again HotRod. I think that I catch your drift. Also, my opening argument was only thinking of charitable contributions. It would be too hard-core for me to think about medical bills and renting as not tax-deductible. Anywho...any debaters yet??? One man's charity is another man's hell-hole. Your move! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 [quote name='Paddington' post='1441690' date='Jan 3 2008, 03:57 PM']BTW, how do you itemize? It doesn't sound difficult. So I don't know why I wouldn't have done it. [/quote] Because you [s]are[/s] were ignorant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddington Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 [quote name='Winchester' post='1441770' date='Jan 3 2008, 11:11 PM']Because you are ignorant.[/quote] Rude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 [quote name='Paddington' post='1441773' date='Jan 3 2008, 07:53 PM']Rude.[/quote] True. If you don't know about something, you are ignorant. You asked a question. I answered. If I were ignorant of anything, I would gladly admit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddington Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 BTW, I wouldn't mind being not ignorant of how you do that line-crossing-thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 [quote name='Paddington' post='1441779' date='Jan 3 2008, 08:10 PM'] BTW, I wouldn't mind being not ignorant of how you do that line-crossing-thing.[/quote] Second row on your posting info, drop down menu with the upper and lower case A. After putting the simple sentence, I thought it might come over as more mean than funny, so I edited it. Unfortunately not before you saw the shorter version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddington Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 [quote name='Paddington' post='1441786' date='Jan 3 2008, 08:25 PM']Thanks [/quote] You owe me. I shall note it in the log. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddington Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 I'll pay you if you don't shoot me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 [quote name='Paddington' post='1441790' date='Jan 3 2008, 08:35 PM']I'll pay you if you don't shoot me. [/quote] I'm not loaded for bear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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