Every year there’s a surge of charitable giving that happens post-Christmas, which is (at least in some portion) attributed to transactions needing to go through before the close of the year so that contributions are tax-deductible in the current calendar year.
According to a the 2014 Digital Giving Index produced by Network for Good, 12% of all charitable donations happened in the last 3 days of the year. So as we enter the final 2 days of the year, Moodley Foundation wanted to offer some advice to those interested in making charitable donations who could benefit from an income tax break.
The largest benefits from reducing your taxable income happen when you cross over certain “brackets” based on your filing status and exemptions. These details normally are published by the end of Q3, and you can find where you fall here: www.irs.com/articles/2015-federal-tax-rates…
If it turns out that supporting a charitable organization can also benefit you personally through financial gain, then seek out a charity that speaks to the benefit or change that you’d like to see in the world. There are many websites where you can search for charitable organizations based on the cause the serve and area of operations. These websites include: charitynavigator.org, charities.org, and crowdrise.com.
Then, verify that the organization that you want to support is eligible to have their contributions tax-deductible. You’re able to view all exempt organizations from the United States here in the IRS website: apps.irs.gov/app/eos
Finally, keep a record of your donation (the amount, the organization, and the date). Many charities will now process payments online and automatically send you a receipt. If you don’t receive anything, make sure to follow up with a call or email as soon as possible to assure the payment has gone through and that you’ll be receiving a receipt for your records.
We’d also like you to consider making charitable contributions part of your monthly routine. If you don’t expect your income levels to significantly change moving into next year, you’re able to spread out donations across each month through reoccurring contributions – an option for many exempt non-profits.