i am still working on taxes - hubby is 1099'ed so takes me forever since all receipts are just thrown in a box all year long everything a mess.
so i now have all receipts gone through - will go through 2 more times just to be sure since my brain is not what it used to be lol - shouldn't be doing these but can't afford to pay someone to do them for us
i have lots of receipts for things that are being donated this year - we have look good feel better donation bags, the cancer clinic donation bags and toys for tots donation bags. all my receipts are dated 2011.
so question is do i claim the donations this year since receipts are dated 2011.
or do i claim next tax year since i will be making the actual donations mid year 2012.
1|1|anyone|tonyas30|tonyas30@hotmail.com|20:10:59|02/28/2012|
nm 5|2|I think I confused everyone lol|tonyas30|tonyas30@hotmail.com|21:51:53|02/29/2012|
easy to do when dealing with me:) I know what I am thinking but cannot seem to get it across that way
made donations in 2011
charities that we donated items to - american cancer society and the cancer clinic
donated 100+ gift bags we made for them took to each place
they said just to save my receipts - they did not give me one - and use those for my charitable donation proof of cost
so i did
i have a ton of receipts here 1/2 for things already donated that we bought in 2011
half for things we bought end of 2011 to donate in 2012
so my question was when i go to donate the things in 2012 is it okay to use my 2011 store receipts for 2012 taxes for those items i donated this year.
2|1|I think you have to claim them this year as the reciepts are dated 2011 next year would be 2012's tax's|teener|teenerzacsneenee@yahoo.com|22:27:16|02/28/2012|
>Posted on Feb-28-12 at 05:44 PM (Eastern)
>by 75.185.34.179i am still working on
>taxes - hubby is 1099'ed so
>takes me forever since all receipts
>are just thrown in a box
>all year long everything a mess.
>
>so i now have all receipts gone
>through - will go through 2
>more times just to be sure
>since my brain is not what
>it used to be lol -
>shouldn't be doing these but can't
>afford to pay someone to do
>them for us
>i have lots of receipts for things
>that are being donated this year
>- we have look good feel
>better donation bags, the cancer clinic
>donation bags and toys for tots
>donation bags. all my receipts
>are dated 2011.
>so question is do i claim the
>donations this year since receipts are
>dated 2011.
>or do i claim next tax year
>since i will be making the
>actual donations mid year 2012.
3|1|I am confused as to how you got actual RECEIPTS dated for 2011 when you didn't donate anything yet|Abbicca|Abbicca@insightbb.com|12:25:53|02/29/2012|
Normally charities don't issue a tax receipt until items are received. I would ask the charities if another receipt could be issued when you FULFILL your donation obligation and give them their first ones back. Are you dropping the bags off? Are they picking them up? Usually a receipt is given at the time the items change hands. See if that is the case with your charities. Also do your receipts say thank you for your PLEDGE to help? It is one thing to make a pledge and another to carry through with it.
But you should deduct charitable donations in the year you actually donate. In this case, I would suggest a date stamped camera be used to take pictures of the stuff going into the bags (actually I suggest this anytime items are being donated just as a precaution). 4|2|2011|Heyushell|heyushell@aol.com|15:11:28|02/29/2012|
ANYTHING DONE BETWEEN JAN 1 2011 & DEC 31 2011 CAN BE CLAIMED ON THE TAXES YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW
(BECAUSE YOU ARE WORKING ON 2011 TAXES WHICH IS LAST YEAR)
ANYTHING DONE BETWEEN JAN 1 2012 & DEC 31 2012 WILL BE DONE ON 2012 TAXES (WHICH WILL BE DONE IN 2013)
*~~Im Just A "Pantiless Hag" who Loves RS BUT Can Do Without The BS~~*
*~~If Your A "Wine Salesman" And Have Wine Tags....I Wanna Marry You~~* 6|3|I agree with Heyushell|kdrink|kdrink34@yahoo.com|00:32:01|03/01/2012|
If you purchased the items in 2011 but do not physically donate them until sometime in 2012, it would be done on the taxes you complete in 2013.
Your receipts are proof for what you paid assuming the goods are still new. Keep record of the donation name and address along with your receipt.
7|4|What kind of items did you buy? I would think that you would need the recieprt from the place you donated to to get credit since|teener|teenerzacsneenee@yahoo.com|06:21:03|03/01/2012|
I don't think you can claim just a crt that is for say 20 gift bags kwim but I would go with whatever Amy says as she does this stuff(tax's) all the time 8|5|BUT THEY DID NOT GIVE ME A RECEIPT FROM THEM. THE ORGANIZATION JUST SAID SAVE MY RECEIPTS AND USE THOSE WHEN I FILE TAXES|tonyas30|tonyas30@hotmail.com|10:01:02|03/01/2012|
SO THAT IS INCORRECT? 10|6|keep your receipts|kdrink|kdrink34@yahoo.com|13:28:05|03/01/2012|
I thought that according to the IRS tax codes that it is up to the donor to keep record of what is donated and what the value is. An agency does not assume the responsibility of assigning a value. It is the donors responsibility. Seeing how you will not get a receipt, that is why you need to keep record of whom and where it was donated along with the cost of items. Perhaps you may get a thank you letter. although that is not sufficient enough under the IRS guidelines along with the other information in is proof.
Ex: I purchased 5 new shirts at Target for Family services in 2011 with a toal cost of 50.00. I donated them on 12-31-11, I would then keep record of agency, address and my receipt and deduct the total cost of it on my taxes for this year as I am currently doing them now. Each donation in material goods cannot exceed 500.00. For instance, I can donate 20 items 10 different times, but each time I donate the material goods cannot exceed 500.00. There are certain stipulations though.
However, used items that are donated have a "market value". It is roughly for what a thrift store would sell the item for. This too is for the year it is donated in, not the year it was purchased in.
If I donate cash, again it is for the year it was donated in, not the year it was made in.
Hope this may help although I am by no means an accountant. 12|7|Each donation in material goods cannot exceed 500.00. but I can do this several times with different agencies correct? I am not limited to only 500.00 total donation of all added together am I|tonyas30|tonyas30@hotmail.com|14:02:25|03/01/2012|
? 9|1|OK---so the receipts you have are from where you purchased new items to donate?|Abbicca|Abbicca@insightbb.com|13:22:20|03/01/2012|
NOW I understand!!! It is store receipts that you have....not ones from the charities and you are donating new items.
The answer doesn't change...but it sure helps my confusion!!! :)
You claim the donation in 2012 when you actually give the items away.....and you use the receipts as proof of the donation value should you ever be questioned. I would suggest that you see if the charity will give you a receipt or thank you letter for your goodie bags---just something acknowledging that they received something from you and attach your store receipts to that letter for "proof" of the value. Otherwise, the store receipts just look like stuff YOU bought for you to use and the IRS can disallow it unless you can show something saying you gave the stuff away. Most places give you a basic blank "Thank you for your donation" paper and I attach my store receipts to it and list what I gave on their paper....just in case.
HTH 11|2|thanks for the info everyone :O)|tonyas30|tonyas30@hotmail.com|13:59:35|03/01/2012|
so i will keep these receipts from 2011 for my donations in 2012 and make sure I ask for a donation paper when I donate this time around.
thanks everyone and sorry for the confusion - its a constant state of mind for me :) 13|3|You got it!!!!|kdrink|kdrink34@yahoo.com|16:51:58|03/01/2012|
Yes, you an donate several times BUT with material goods no ONE transaction can total more than $500.00 or you needs lots of additional papers from the charity itself. So, you can donate 10 times to the same agency during a single tax year if you'd like, but each transaction needs to be 499.99 or under.
One last thing: Normally the thank you note from the charity will say something like "no goods or services were offered in exhchange." Meaning you received nothing significant in exchange for your donation. 14|1|If your non-monetary donations total more than $500 (M)|Abbicca|Abbicca@insightbb.com|18:16:58|03/01/2012|
You will need to fill out an additional form 8283.
That is not if any ONE donation of items/stuff equals over $500...that is if the TOTAL of all ITEM DONATIONS equal more than 500 to ALL charities. To fill that out, you will need the name of the organization you donated to, their address, a list of what you donated (it can be rough as you have limited space), the condition of what you donated, the date you donated, when you got it ("various" is allowed), HOW you got it (purchased is allowed), roughly how much it cost you when you got it, what value you are deducting, and how you came up with that value ("thrift store value" is the norm for clothing/etc to goodwill)...and you will need to do that with EACH non-monetary donation even if some of them are only for $50...if the total is over $500 they all need to go on that form.
15|2|Abbica you're right...my my brain is faster than my typing|kdrink|kdrink34@yahoo.com|10:37:55|03/02/2012|
LOL.