Charitable Contributions for the 2019 Tax Year

In recent years, there have been some changes made to tax laws, and it’s important to understand how these changes affect you.

One way in which the changes may have an impact is on any charitable donations you may have made in the 2019 tax year.   

Percentage Limit Increase

In years past, the percentage limit of cash contributions was 50% This year, however, it’s been raised to 60% of your adjusted gross income, so you can give even more and still deduct it!

Personal Seat Rights

It used to be that you could claim 80% of the cost of personal seats rights for college sports as a tax deduction. Unfortunately, that’s no longer allowed. Not only can you not deduct 80%, but you can’t deduct anything at all. Sorry, sports fans!

Give with Caution

In addition to being aware of recent tax changes, make sure you are careful about where you donate your time and money.

The IRS will only allow you to deduct donations to qualified organizations. Plus, you don’t want to get scammed by a non-reputable organization.

Generally, a qualified organization must be a nonprofit group and meet certain other standards. 

Fortunately, the IRS maintains a list of qualified organizations, which you can and should check before you donate.

Consider the Standard Deduction

Finally, before you take advantage of deductions for charitable contributions, make sure you wouldn’t be better off taking the standard deduction.

For some people, this will be the smarter financial choice. If you’re not sure what applies in your situation, just check with a tax professional or simply do the math to determine which one makes more financial sense.

Remember, it’s always nice to give and to help others. Just make sure you take the new tax laws into consideration, as well as what’s best for you.