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Let's talk about the deduction for charitable contributions the Internal Revenue Code requires that for you to be able to deduct charitable contributions that several rules be met the primary rule is that the charity must be an approved IRS charity to be an approved IRS charity that of course means it must be US based and it must be formally approved meaning for example if you give money to an individual including you drop it in a box in a corner a homeless person or directly to an individual in need that is not considered a tax-deductible charitable contribution it must be an approved United States charity by the Internal Revenue Service this is sometimes called a 501 C 3 Corp entity or a 501 C 4 let's don't get into the tough stuff it has to be an approved institutional charity for you to be able to deduct it and it must be in the United States your deduction is generally limited to half of your income in a year now don't worry if you have a whole lot of in deductions that you give away in one year and you make so little money that the deductions are more than half we do get to carry them forward there's your first set of rules it must be an approved US IRS approved charity and you have to give it directly to the charity what you give to a charity may be cash or goods or products or clothing etc here are your basic other set of rules if the dollar amount of what you are claiming as a deduction is less than 250 dollars you have to have a receipt for what you have given them that receipt could take the form of a canceled check an oder letter from the charity or an actual receipt in that case if the dollar amount is two hundred and fifty dollars or more all the way up to five thousand dollars you need more than a receipt you need a receipt plus you need a letter from the charity that shows the date and specific dollar amount of those contributions that you've given of more than $250 that letter also has to say that no goods or services were received by you in return for the gift you gave and finally the letter must be dated no later than the day you file your tax return all right the rule actually says the earlier of the due date or filing data you return so we've now learned to deduct charity it has to be an approved United States charity and the money must be given directly to them second if the amount given is less than $250 you need a receipt if it's more than two hundred and fifty dollars all the way up to five thousand dollars you need in addition to the receipt you also need a letter from the charity showing specific dates amounts and the fact that no goods or services were received by you in return and you better have that letter in your possession by the time you file your tax return if you get more than five thousand dollars to a charity and it's something other than cash you also have to have a signed special appraisal now our last discussion point is what if I give non-cash items to a charity things like clothing the goodwill...