What you need to know about year-end charitable giving in
This article organizes the original guidance on what you need to know about year-end charitable giving in 2017 into clear sections for easier reading and reference.
Overview
This opening section presents the main context from the original post.
Charitable giving can be a powerful tax-saving strategy: Donations to qualified charities are generally fully deductible, and you have complete control over when and how much you give. Here are some important considerations to keep in mind this year to ensure you receive the tax benefits you desire.
Delivery date
This section keeps the original guidance focused on delivery date.
To be deductible on your 2017 return, a charitable donation must be made by December 31, 2017. According to the IRS, a donation generally is “made” at the time of its “unconditional delivery.” But what does this mean?
Is it the date you, for example, write a check or make an online gift via your credit card? Or is it the date the charity actually receives the funds—or perhaps the date of the charity’s acknowledgment of your gift?
The delivery date depends in part on what you donate and how you donate it. Here are a few examples for common donations:
Check. The date you mail it.
This section keeps the original guidance focused on check. the date you mail it..
Credit card. The date you make the charge.
This section keeps the original guidance focused on credit card. the date you make the charge..
Pay-by-phone account. The date the financial institution pays the amount.
Stock certificate. The date you mail the properly endorsed stock certificate to the charity.
Qualified charity status
This section keeps the original guidance focused on qualified charity status.
To be deductible, a donation also must be made to a “qualified charity”—one that’s eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
The IRS’s online search tool, Exempt Organizations (EO) Select Check, can help you more easily find out whether an organization is eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. You can access EO Select Check at http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos.
Information about organizations eligible to receive deductible contributions is updated monthly.
Potential impact of tax reform
This section keeps the original guidance focused on potential impact of tax reform.
The charitable donation deduction isn’t among the deductions that have been proposed for elimination or reduction under tax reform. In fact, income-based limits on how much can be deducted in a particular year might be expanded, which will benefit higher-income taxpayers who make substantial charitable gifts.
However, for many taxpayers, accelerating into this year donations that they might normally give next year may make sense for a couple of tax-reform-related reasons:
- If your tax rate goes down for 2018, then 2017 donations will save you more tax because deductions are more powerful when rates are higher.
- If the standard deduction is raised significantly and many itemized deductions are eliminated or reduced, then it may not make sense for you to itemize deductions in 2018, in which case you would not benefit from charitable donation deduction next year.
Many additional rules apply to the charitable donation deduction, so please contact us if you have questions about the deductibility of a gift you’ve made or are considering making—or the potential impact of tax reform on your charitable giving plans.
Related Resources
These resources connect the article topic with related Bowers service pages and approved professional reading.
FAQ
The questions below summarize the main points already covered in the article.
What is the main focus of What you need to know about year-end charitable giving in 2017?
The article focuses on what you need to know about year-end charitable giving in 2017 and organizes the original guidance into sections for easier review.
What topics does the article cover first?
The article begins with delivery date and then continues through the remaining points in the original post.
Which additional areas are included?
Additional sections include check. the date you mail it., credit card. the date you make the charge., qualified charity status.
Does the post include action items or reminders?
Yes. The original post includes listed items that have been kept in list format for easier scanning.
Was the original post wording changed?
The revision keeps the author wording and updates the structure so the post is easier to read online.