I have charitable contributions for this year in excess of $2,000 .
How much of these deductions can I CARRYFOWARD into the future and, if so, for how many years?
(My charitable contributions are donations of books to public libraries)
Thanks for help.
I was on hold for 6 hrs with IRS with no end result answer.
2007-12-26 00:51:34 · 4 answers · asked by walkathisway 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
The direct answer to your question is that yes, you can carry over contributions to the following year if and only if they exceed your contribution limit for the year. You don't say what your income is, but it would have to be very low for a $2000 contribution to exceed the annual limit.
Then there's another issue. You do know, don't you, that the value of the contribution is the fair market value of the books when you donate them, not their original cost? Unless they were very valuable collector books, you'd have had to donate 1000 hardbacks or more for them to be worth $2000, or probably 4000+ paperbacks. Libraries typically sell hardbacks at their book sales for $1.50 or $2, or sometimes less, and paperbacks for 50 cents or less. If you are donating NEW books to them (and this doesn't mean "like new" condition books that have been read once) then you could take the full purchase price as a deduction, but the library would probably prefer in that case that you just donate the money and let them select the books they need for their collection.
2007-12-26 02:16:41 · answer #1 · answered by Judy 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Get a receipt from the public library and be ready to establish the value of the books you donate. Charitable contributions in excess of those for your income limit you can carry forward; be sure to document everything as you will be dealing with idiots and computers from now on out.
2007-12-26 02:26:44 · answer #2 · answered by acmeraven 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can only carry forward charitable deductions that exceed the limit for the year. Generally charitable deductions are limited to 50% of your AGI but there are also 30% and 20% limits for some charities. Any deductions that do not exceed the limit must be taken in the year of the actual donation or they are lost.
2007-12-26 01:16:38 · answer #3 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You can carry forward any unused contributions that are limited because of AGI. Your AGI would have to be pretty low for a $2000 donation to create a carryover.
If you are asking on whether or not you can claim part of the donation now and part in future years, the answer is No.
2007-12-26 01:02:10 · answer #4 · answered by Wayne Z 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋