Charity Banners

Planning a worthy cause gives immense pleasure to organizers and as well as participants. Charitable events can be as simple as a bake sale to a much more complex event such as musical shows. Many may opt to participate while others may donate their time and effort to conduct a successful event.

Vast number of organizations and people can benefit from a charitable event. Participation in charity event carries many benefits. Volunteers donate their time, talent and even resources to successfully conduct an event. It generates much needed funds and other assets to the charity while providing a venue for many to socialize. Volunteers who help at the event get experience as well as a huge satisfaction. Many can claim their time, expenses and other related expenses on their annual Federal Tax Return. Students can enhance their resume by participating and helping at a charity event. Those who are building their professional carriers may benefit by meeting new contacts as well as friends. Non-profit organizations are consistently searching for volunteers and in turn may provide additional help for volunteers when they need a pay back. So, benefits of a charitable event are enormous and at the end everyone wins.

Last year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was in hot water for its overzealous scrutiny of applications from the Tea Party and others with similar wording on applications for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(4). The whole controversy started with an IRS apology of its actions prior to the last Presidential elections. All non-profit groups engaged in promoting “social welfare” requires to obtain Section 501(c) (4) tax-exempt status. The affected organizations claim that they were subject to more scrutiny and their applications were delayed by asking additional information.

These groups are primarily advocacy groups and not specifically election advocacy groups that are subject to the Federal Election Commission supervision. Therefore, the scrutiny of these groups falls only under the IRS code. In the latest explanation from IRS, it says that they didn’t single out just these groups and 200 or so similar groups have been closely scrutinized by the IRS during the same period. The IRS also indicates that they were merely trying to understand how these groups operate before taking an action to approve or deny their 501(c)(4) status applications. According to the IRS, more than 44,000 similar organizations including home owner associations, sports clubs, grass-roots such as Sierra Club operates under this umbrella.

Deadline to file your 2013 Tax Return is April 15, 2014. Don’t forget to claim your charitable donation tax deduction if you have contributed to charitable organizations. They not only include the money, stocks and goods you donated to charity but also miles you drove for charitable purposes.

Make sure to keep your records, receipts and other documents related to charitable giving and miles driven. Keep them with your tax documents for the same length of time period recommended by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for your tax documents. These documents include but not limited to cancelled checks, records of stocks donated, and others such as credit card records.

When it comes to claiming a tax deduction for donated items to charity, there are several rules you have to follow. The value of donated items should be calculated based on one of IRS recommended method. Many use thrift store prices to calculate the value of donated items.

Only money, stocks and goods donated to an IRS recognized 501 (c)(3) charitable organizations and connected mileage qualify for deduction. So, it is important to check the IRS status of the charitable organization before your donation of goods and time.

Many call him “The Cool” pope. Becoming more popular as poor people’s pontiff, Pope Francis is planning to auction his 1,585cc Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide to raise funds for Catholic charities. Money raised through the auction will go to Caritas Roma’s that is in the process of renovating a hostel and a soup kitchen in the Vatican. The Harley-Davidson comes with his signature that reads “Francesco” on the tank. Bonhams Auction House will be the auctioneer.

It was a gift to Pope Francis in June 2013 from Harley-Davidson to commemorate its 110th anniversary of the company. The United States based Harley-Davidson is famous for its unique motor cycle brand and has reputation for manufacturing reliable motor cycles. They wanted Pope to maintain a low key profile and Pope’s refusal to ride extravagant vehicles at the Vatican prompted them to donate the Harley. No one knows whether the Pope rode on the Harley or not. The auctioneer Bonhams expect to sell the Harley for $16,000 to $20,000 at the auction based on the charitable purpose of the auction. A leather jacket will also be auctioned off after the motor cycle to raise funds for the same cause.

It is that time of the year you get ready for year-end tax moves and get ready to file your yearly tax forms. Many tax payers fail to claim charitable donations they made to qualified charities. Qualified charities are those charities including religious institutions that are formed under the IRS Code Section 501 (c)(3). In order to get credit for your charitable donation, you should be itemizing your deductions and file a long Form 1040.

If you have donated more than $250 to a qualified charity, make sure to obtain a receipt and keep it with your tax documents.

Value of non-cash donations such as household items as well as donated time and travel for charitable work also qualify for a deduction. When calculating the value of donated items other than securities, IRS provides guidelines to follow. For most of household items and cloths, IRS will accept valuations based on thrift store prices. When it comes to stocks and other securities, value to use is the appreciated value of the security. Miles driven for charitable activities can be calculated using IRS mileage value tables. Keep in mind rates are different for each category such as miles driven for medical, charitable work and unreimbursed office work.