Tax Guru-Ker$tetter Letter

Monday, January 25, 2010

Haiti Relief Donations Qualify for Immediate Tax Relief – IRS clarifies this recently enacted law.

People who give to charities providing earthquake relief in Haiti can claim these donations on the tax return they are completing this season, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Taxpayers who itemize deductions on their 2009 return qualify for this special tax relief provision, enacted Jan. 22. Only cash contributions made to these charities after Jan. 11, 2010, and before March 1, 2010, are eligible. This includes contributions made by text message, check, credit card or debit card.

They also remind people:

Taxpayers have the option of deducting these contributions on either their 2009 or 2010 returns, but not both.

Of course, a year from now, there will be plenty of people who will very innocently accidentally deduct these same payments on their 2010 1040 as they total up payments made during the 2010 calendar year.

Labels: Charity

- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 1/25/2010 04:08:00 PM Send this post: