Things You'll Need:
- Receipts for your donation(s)
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Step 1
The easiest way to determine whether or not the organization you've donated to is a tax-exempt nonprofit is to determine if it is classified as a 501(c)3. This coding is a provision of the United States Internal Revenue Code that clearly states 28 different types of organizations that are eligible to be exempted from taxes.
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Step 2
Contact the organization, confirm whether or not it is classified as a 501(c)3 and ASK FOR A RECEIPT for your donation. It is helpful for the receipt to be on the organization's letterhead and to clearly state that the organization is a 501(c)3.
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Step 3
You can also check out Charity Navigator (linked below) to find out about the organization you are considering a donation to.
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Step 4
Non-Monetary donations ARE tax-deductible. You'll simply need a receipt for the MARKET VALUE of the goods, services, materials you've donated.
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Step 5
Only gifts of $250 or more REQUIRE a receipt, but it is useful to provide them nonetheless. This is especially true if the sum total you've donated is $250 or more (split between various organizations).
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Step 6
Contributions you make to organizations that are coded as 501(c)4 are NOT eligible for tax deduction. Political organizations or advocacy organizations that attempt to sway voting in any way are usually considered 501(c)4 organizations.
Comments
mrkestrel said
on 4/6/2009 Step 6 is NOT correct, some volunteer fire companies are listed as 501(c)4. Donations to these organizations are tax deductible if the money is used for "exclusively public purposes".
MrsPerrin said
on 2/23/2009 Great article. Thank you for the information.
jtrue said
on 1/3/2009 Just what I was looking for! Just need to round up all of my receipts!
PABechko said
on 1/1/2009 Great info with tax season almost upon us.
Thims said
on 1/1/2009 "501(c)3" Yep, leave it up to our convoluted tax system to come up with some arbitrary coding which no one can figure out. We need more articles like yours so we can know whether we have "permission" to gift our own money! Good information.