|
|
|
|
|
Posted by joetaxpayer on May 26, 2008, 12:45 pm
Please log in for more thread options
sandybeth wrote:
> It is interesting to me that you allow your personal opinion on
> donations to influence your response to your clients regarding a
> perfectly legal tax deduction. Obviously you don't have to worry
> about such a small $$ matter yourself, but there are plenty of people
> on fixed incomes who need such deductions.
Sandybeth - I have a different take on Mark's reply. There is a problem
with FMV. The IRS is cracking down on the valuation people are using for
donated items. I focused on "consignment shop" value, the value a
willing buyer would pay for such an item as a man's used suit. But when
you look at the published lists of values, they are a fraction of those
numbers. So, removing some of the 'feelings' on this issue, I think
you'd find the financial benefit to be larger by selling those things
that can easily be sold (books, for instance) and donating the proceeds.
Joe
--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
|
|
Posted by Mark Bole on May 26, 2008, 2:17 pm
Please log in for more thread options
sandybeth wrote:
>> Finally, my personal opinion as both a taxpayer and tax preparer, there
>> are so many options today for selling used items, from Craigslist to
>> EBay to used book stores and consignment stores, it'd be better to
>> disallow non-cash donations that aren't formally appraised or don't have
>> an easily determined FMV -- let the donee sell the item and donate the
>> cash, plus take a deduction for the costs of sale, if it's that
>> important to them. I find myself from time to time reminding clients,
>> gently, that the meaning of "charity" isn't defined primarily by the
>> ability to take a tax deduction.
> It is interesting to me that you allow your personal opinion on
> donations to influence your response to your clients regarding a
> perfectly legal tax deduction.
My personal opinion was about the not-so-legal deduction of over-valued
or otherwise non-deductible, non-cash donations.
Remember that TV commercial from a few months ago, where Turbotax was
touting its database of donation values (the one I mentioned in my first
reply), with the actor indicating that the way to report your non-cash
deductions is, "Click, money! Click, money!" Unfortunately, I think the
approach is all too common.
I just took a box of used books to a large local bookstore last week and
got $10 FMV for them. I know some folks, and suspect there are many
more, who think *any* box of used books is easily worth ten or more
times that amount, it's not.
Look at how non-cash charity is treated for tax purposes. Why do you
think the law was passed in August 2006 to restrict deductions to only
"good used condition or better" items? Why do you think the threshold
for using Form 8283 ($500) has not been indexed for inflation in well
over twenty years? Why do you think the mileage deduction for
charity[1] is less than one-third that for business, and also hasn't
been adjusted upward for inflation lately?
If these tax rules are the determining factor of your level of charity,
then you are the one that my reminder about the meaning of charity is
directed toward. I am confident that you could find ways to volunteer
that require no unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenditure. If you can't
afford the other kinds of charity, you'll get no harsh judgment from me,
but please don't blame it on the tax laws.
BTW, I always advise my clients to take legal deductions, and I have a
good-faith reliance on information provided by the client, but I also
must meet ethical standards that prevent me from signing a return that
appears to be incorrect, inconsistent, or incomplete.
-Mark Bole
[1] Yes I know, charitable mileage is considered a cash donation, but
from the donor's perspective it seems more like a non-cash donation
since it usually goes hand-in-hand with donation of time.
--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
|
|
Posted by Paul Thomas on May 26, 2008, 3:24 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> Remember that TV commercial from a few months ago, where Turbotax was
> touting its database of donation values (the one I mentioned in my first
> reply), with the actor indicating that the way to report your non-cash
> deductions is, "Click, money! Click, money!" Unfortunately, I think the
> approach is all too common.
And unfortunately it's often for naught.
The number of people who can't itemize is higher than those who can.
> I just took a box of used books to a large local bookstore last week and
> got $10 FMV for them. I know some folks, and suspect there are many more,
> who think *any* box of used books is easily worth ten or more times that
> amount, it's not.
Unless there's some reason to do otherwise, the cheapest used books I've
seen were 50 cents for paperback and $1 for hardback. So don't take less
than those numbers, at least in these parts.
> Look at how non-cash charity is treated for tax purposes. Why do you think
> the law was passed in August 2006 to restrict deductions to only "good
> used condition or better" items?
Primarily because the charities have big ol' roll-off dumpsters in back,
often times trashing half of the total goods contributed.
Basically they're tired of handling your trash, and the IRS is tired of you
deducting your trash as charity.
> [1] Yes I know, charitable mileage is considered a cash donation, but from
> the donor's perspective it seems more like a non-cash donation since it
> usually goes hand-in-hand with donation of time.
Time is the most valued thing to donate. And the most rewarding when you
do.
--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia
--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
|
|
Posted by removeps-groups@yahoo.com on May 27, 2008, 10:13 am
Please log in for more thread options wrote:
> Unless there's some reason to do otherwise, the cheapest used books I've
> seen were 50 cents for paperback and $1 for hardback. So don't take less
> than those numbers, at least in these parts.
I got the same results when selling my old books to a used bookstore.
But selling on EBay I got about 30 times that! These were academic
textbooks, all of them older editions of books currently in print and
being used in classrooms.
--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
|
|
Posted by Arthur Kamlet on May 26, 2008, 4:19 pm
Please log in for more thread options >
>Look at how non-cash charity is treated for tax purposes. Why do you
>think the law was passed in August 2006 to restrict deductions to only
>"good used condition or better" items?
Because Bill clinton got all sorts of publiciy for taking charitible
donations for his underwear -- stuff he wouldn't wear any more.
Lots of clothing you wouldn't wear anymore is in less than good condition.
> Why do you think the threshold
>for using Form 8283 ($500) has not been indexed for inflation in well
>over twenty years?
Why do you think the $25,000/$32,000 threshold for taxing social security
benefits has never been indexed?
> Why do you think the mileage deduction for
>charity[1] is less than one-third that for business, and also hasn't
>been adjusted upward for inflation lately?
Well, Congress has delegated the mileage amounts for business, medical
and moving to te IRS, while keeping charitible mileage for itself.
--
ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH
--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
|
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Is the upside of the home office worth the downside (if any)? | February 14, 2008, 11:56 am |
| Claims Court Decision Worth Reading | August 11, 2008, 9:38 pm |
| Toy Donations | December 18, 2007, 3:47 pm |
| Christmas Donations | October 7, 2008, 12:14 am |
| When are donations not taxable to the receiving party? | February 7, 2008, 5:38 pm |
| Voluntary page charges as deductible donations? | April 10, 2007, 10:25 am |
| Are campaign donations deductible business expense? | April 25, 2008, 3:52 pm |
| New Law Encourages Cash Donations for Midwest Disaster Relief | November 25, 2008, 12:34 pm |
|
|
|
|
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap