Deductions (Loans/Donations)

Before making your next donation to your favorite charity you might want to do some research. Do you really know to whom you’re donating? Do you know the charity’s stated mission? How much of your donation goes toward achieving the charity’s mission?

A disaster loss is a loss attributed to a casualty occurring in an area declared by the President of the United States to be a disaster area entitled to federal assistance. Thus, in order to qualify as a disaster loss, the loss must also qualify as a casualty.

For ages it has seemed that claiming the home office deduction on your tax return was a sure-fire invitation for an IRS audit. In fact, on many occasions, taxpayers had been advised to forego claiming this deduction even when they seemed to satisfy the IRS requirements to legitimately take the deduction.

The primary authoritative support concerning the valuation and reporting and recordkeeping of charitable donations is addressed in the Internal Revenue Service -- Publications 526 and 561.

It’s not unusual for a family member to provide financial assistance to another family member by giving the recipient money to meet a need -- i.e. to help purchase a home, pay for medical expenses, etc.

So your friend was in a pinch and you thought they’d be good for it and they weren’t. It’s not all bad; you can lower your taxable income as a result.

Maybe you loaned money to a friend to help with a struggling situation. But now it’s beginning to look like you are never getting paid back.

Make the most out giving to charity by benefiting from all the available tax breaks you’re entitled to.