My office is in a strip mall, next to Albertson’s shopping center. I had a lunch date with my baby girl who is in Kindergarten, so I popped in real quick to pick up a salad. The place was packed! People were shopping for the big meal – there were flowers, deserts, and the feel of the holidays in the air. (Sure didn’t feel like a recsesion – money was moving!) That feel always makes me appreicate how good i’ve got it, so Albertson’s got a $5 donation for their charity and the salvation army got a few bucks as well. Just a few of my deductions for my 2008 taxes.
It’s the time of year, when most of the charitable contribitions are made. Christmas Angels, Season of giving through the Arizona Republic, West Side Food Bank, Saint Mary’s, Salvation army – hey it’s the season of giving. So what’s this got to do with taxes? Well charity is a BIG tax planning startegy . Of course the IRS doesn’t really understand the season of giving, and they have been taking away in this area recently. To audit proof those deductions, any gift under $250, must be documented by bank records or a receipt from the charity. I got Alberson’s covered, becasue it went through my debit card, but I missed getting the recept for the salvation army….
I have provided a handy dandy chart that explains ALL the requirements for audit proffing your charitable contributions (there are 40 different sets of rules!), with my dvd/cd. This is just a small part (like 1 second out of an hour) of tax planning in arizona.
Whatever you do, make sure you take a moment to give thanks for what you’ve got. If you’re reading this, your warm, with electricity, clean drinking water and bathrooms that REMOVE waste. Small things we all take for granted, but HUGE things for most of the world.
! Anyway
