{"id":965,"date":"2012-12-06T13:46:33","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T18:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=965"},"modified":"2012-12-06T13:46:33","modified_gmt":"2012-12-06T18:46:33","slug":"irs-offers-tax-tips-for-the-season-of-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=965","title":{"rendered":"IRS Offers Tax Tips for &#8220;The Season of Giving&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>December is traditionally a month for giving generously to charities, friends and family. But it&#8217;s also a time that can have a major impact on the tax return you&#8217;ll file in the New Year. Here are some &#8220;Season of Giving&#8221; tips from the IRS covering everything from charity donations to refund planning:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Contribute to Qualified\u00a0Charities.\u00a0<\/strong>If you plan to take an itemized charitable deduction on your 2012 tax\u00a0return, your donation must go to a qualified charity by Dec. 31. Ask the\u00a0charity about its tax-exempt status. You can also visit IRS.gov and use\u00a0the Exempt Organizations Select Check tool to check if your favorite\u00a0charity is a qualified charity. Donations charged to a credit card by Dec.\u00a031 are deductible for 2012, even if you pay the bill in 2013. A gift by check also counts for 2012 as long as you mail it in December. Gifts given\u00a0to individuals, whether to friends, family or strangers, are not\u00a0deductible.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What You Can Deduct.<\/strong>\u00a0 You generally can deduct your cash contributions and the fair market value of most property\u00a0you donate to a qualified charity. Special rules apply to several types of\u00a0donated property, including clothing or household items, cars and boats.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Keep Records of All\u00a0Donations.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0You need to keep a record of any donations you deduct, regardless of the amount. You must have a written record of all cash contributions to claim a deduction. This may include a cancelled check, bank or credit card statement or payroll deduction record. You can also ask the charity for a\u00a0written statement that shows the charity&#8217;s name, contribution date and amount.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gather Records in a Safe\u00a0Place.<\/strong>\u00a0As long as you&#8217;re gathering those records for your charitable\u00a0contributions, it&#8217;s a good time to start rounding up documents you will\u00a0need to file your tax return in 2013. This includes receipts, canceled\u00a0checks and other documents that support income or deductions you will\u00a0claim on your tax return. Be sure to store them in a safe place so you can\u00a0easily access them later when you file your tax return.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plan Ahead for Major Purchases.<\/strong> If you are making major purchases during the holiday season, don&#8217;t base\u00a0them solely on the expectation of receiving your tax refund before the bills arrive. Many factors can impact the timing of a tax refund. The IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days after receiving a tax return.\u00a0However, if your tax return requires additional review, it may take longer\u00a0to receive your refund.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Courtesy of The Internal Revenue Service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December is traditionally a month for giving generously to charities, friends and family. But it&#8217;s also a time that can have a major impact on the tax return you&#8217;ll file in the New Year. Here are some &#8220;Season of Giving&#8221; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=965\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":968,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions\/968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}