Thoughts on Year-End Charitable Giving

By Michael A. Thompson, CPA

The holiday season is here, and you are well aware that there are only a few weeks left for tax planning opportunities. In this year-end message, may I suggest talking to your clients about donating to their favorite charity? And don’t forget the chapter’s new year’s mixer.

New-Member Social: I want to encourage new members to attend our Jan. 14 social at the Old Pro Bar in Palo Alto. Look for more details under “Chapter Events”.

Charitable Donations: Contributions are down, but the need is up. Your clients’ generous contributions to charitable organizations are very much appreciated. I can’t recommend a recipient because that is purely your clients’ personal decision. However, I can suggest that they write that check. In making that decision, here are two considerations:

• IRS Publication 78: Cumulative List of Organizations identifies tax-exempt organizations that qualify for a charitable contribution deduction. A searchable edition of this publication is available online. The beauty of this website is that when you search for charities by your city and state, you get a list of legal names for local charities. You can then click through the pages until you find a cause that interests you. You can also use Google to research by using the legal name of the charitable organization.
• Fraudulent Charities: Before you write that check, remember that you are responsible for exercising good judgment on anything that you find on the internet. Should you discover a fraudulent website associated to the exact legal name of a valid charity listed in Pub. 78, immediately report this abuse to the IRS. Charity fraud is intolerable.

Have a safe holiday season and a happy new year.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 1:09 pm and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.