How much do you have to donate to have it count off your taxes?

Question

When I go to the Goodwill and get a slip for 50 dollars or 100 dollars, can I deduct that from my taxes? How does it work? Someone told me charitable deductions on taxes are only good for when you have donated at least 1,000 dollars worth of stuff...???

Answer 1

Someone is incorrect. You can claim cash & non-cash charitable contributions on Schedule A - Itemized Deductions and if your total itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction then you itemize. It could be as little as $1 in charitable contributions that puts your itemized deductions above the standard deduction amount.

Just to you know though, depending on what you contribute (cash or non-cash) your allowable charitable contribution can be limited to 30% or 50% of your AGI, any excess above that would be carried forward up to a maximum of 5 years. Also, non-cash contributions over $500 have to have another form with the Schedule A.

Answer 2

Charitable donations only save you anything in taxes if you itemize, which you only do if your total itemized deductions including the charitable deductions are more than your standard deduction, which for 2007 is $5350 if you are filing as single, $10,700 on a joint return. Also, they only save anything if you are actually paying any tax for the year.

In order to deduct donations of clothing or household items, you need more than just slips showing $50 or $100, you need an itemized list of what you donated and the fair market value at donation time of each item.

Answer 3

Charitable donations are deductible from the first dollar.

However, you need to itemize deductions. If you have a mortgage of any size, you'll want to do that. If you don't, you probably will be money ahead if you take the standard deduction instead.