The IRS Deductions Blog

Posts Tagged ‘donate’

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Question: Can I claim a 2008 tax deduction for a car that I donated in 2007?

I had the charity letter stored away and completely forgot about it when filing my 2007 return. Is it too late?

The value of the donation is $500.

Answer: No, the only way to claim it is to amend your 2007 return. For a $500 deduction, if you’re in a 15% bracket your tax savings would only be $75, so don’t pay someone $100 to amend your return if you’ll only get $75 by amending. And if you didn’t itemize, you don’t get anything anyway so just file it back away, or toss it out.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Tax Deduction For Car Donations:

Volunteers/Donations Needed, 11/21

Girl Scouts Girl Scouts of Colorado needs volunteers in Denver County. Adults can volunteer to lead a troop through their Girl Scout leadership experience or assist with events, camps or in the office.

Car Donation Tax Deduction- Does it really work?

Items on Amazon Right Now for Boat Tax Deductible:

Letters to the Editor

In the Dec. 10, 2009 edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet, Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA) submitted a commentary in support of the REALM Charter School proposal which was submitted to the Berkeley School Board on Dec. 16, 2009. In the days leading up to the school board meeting, we were informed that the statistic we had received regarding only ONE African-American male …

Exotic Trading Excursion

Question: Someone told me about an organization that you could donate your car/house to,& receive tax deduction credit??

Answer: There are a number of such organizations and they advertise on the radio and on the internet but they will only take newer cars, not the one you want to get rid of. I know, I tried.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Tax Deduction Donate Car:

Donate cars to Good News Garage today

Have a car, truck or van you want to part with for a good cause? Well, today’s the day.

Auto Donation Tax Deduction – How To Not Get Screwed!

There is no need to ever be without knowledge if you have wikis. The wiki is a revolutionary way to share content and create communities for both an individual and a business.

What on earth is a wiki? If your answer is, “I don’t know,” then read on. Wikis have created a whole new world of information, and with them, you’ll never be without knowledge.

A wiki is collaborative website that allows users to contribute or edit content. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki software, launched his website WikiWikiWeb in 1995, inspired by the “Wiki Wiki” airport shuttle at the Honolulu International Airport (“wiki” is Hawaiian for “fast”). Cunningham originally described a wiki as, “the simplest online database that could possibly work.”

A wiki is basically a content management system. A CMS is a computer application used to create, edit, manage, and publish content in an organized way. Let’s say you had a newsletter that you update weekly. A CMS allows you to set up a template with a header, a logo, the date, etc, then a space where the content will go. This way, each week you do not have to recreate the newsletter from scratch, you can just update the content. A CMS can populate the date and other information automatically, publish it, file it, allow you to search it, edit it, and all sorts of other functions.

Most websites are designed using a CMS, and a great example of this a blog. You simply enter in your text, hit publish, and everything else is taken care of.

So a wiki is a web page (or pages) with this set up that specifically allows anyone to edit or add to the content. The most well-known wiki is the website Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” The advantage of a wiki is that two minds are great than one—it is a collaborative effort.

The most obvious benefit of a wiki is that they are a great source of free information. There are literally thousands of wikis out there, both public and private, large and small, general or very, very specific. Wikipedia is an example of a very large, public, general wiki. It provides great summaries, but if you wanted to know about Monopoly, you wouldn’t reference a wiki on Games, but on Monopoly specifically. In case you were wondering, a Monopoly wiki does exist, and great way to find a specific wiki is to look on a wiki farm—a single website hosting multiple wikis. Two of the most popular are Wikia and Wetpaint.

Wikis create and build communities and can benefit both the individual and more recently, businesses. The Monopoly wiki is a great example of how an individual can learn more about their topic of interest (history or fun facts), find information about related topics (Parker Brothers for example), and connect with other Monopoly fans.

Wiki can also benefit business, for example: Volacci is a small Austin-based internet marketing firm that specializes in natural search engine optimization. Initially based on the need to provide more customer support, they created a wiki for their clients. It includes information about the business, a glossary of terms, and frequently asked questions. It’s not only a valuable resource for clients, but since anyone can edit or add to it, clients can share information and give feedback. The wiki is another avenue for the company to communicate with clients and vice versa, and also connects clients to clients—creating an interactive community. (An added benefit is that this doubles as a search engine marketing strategy since they are providing relevant, frequently updated content related to their industry.)

While wiki may be a funny word, they are nothing to laugh at. In this “information age,” the wiki is a revolutionary way to share content and create communities. Individuals have been riding the wiki wave for some time, and businesses are beginning to catch it. In a world of wikis, you will never have to say, “I don’t know” again.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Wiki Deductible:

Soccer Capsules: Blatter says FIFA not corrupt, England bad loser

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA is not corrupt, Sepp Blatter insisted Wednesday, though it needs a better image after the World Cup hosting contests.

F-18 Passenger

In November 2009, the IRS began a new National Research Program Initiative (the Initiative): an industry wide detailed random audit of employment taxes for 6,000 employers during the course of the next three years. The purpose of the Initiative is dual fold: (1) assess systemic employment tax compliance; and (2) collect assessments from delinquent employers.

With diminishing tax revenues due to the depressed economy, the U.S. Treasury Department is stepping up efforts to decrease the tax gap between overall tax liabilities and taxes paid to the Internal Revenue Service. Auditing employment taxes is seen by the IRS as a necessary method of closing this tax gap. For tax year 2001 for example, the gross tax gap was estimated by the IRS at around $345 billion, with underreporting of employment taxes accounting for around 17% of the tax gap.

The IRS will audit businesses to ensure that Federal withholding taxes are deducted and paid over to the government from employees wages for Social Security and Medicare as well as Federal Unemployment taxes. An employer found to be in noncompliance could face stiff civil penalties and interest on unpaid taxes. These penalties could have a particularly severe impact on small business owners.

The IRS has prioritized four areas to focus their auditing efforts under the Initiative, including:

Worker Classification: i.e. whether an employer properly classifies an employee as an employee or independent contractor for tax purposes. Determining which depends on the behavioral, financial and type of relationship the company has with the person performing the work.

Employee Fringe Benefits: A fringe benefit is a form of pay for the performance of services. i.e. benefits such as insurance coverage, company car or child care, etc. that are provided by employers tax free to employees but not to independent contractors.

Reimbursed Business Expenses: e.g. reimbursement for taking a client to lunch, purchasing office supplies: which requires a written business expense plan. I.E. You must have paid or incurred expenses that are deductible while performing services as an employee. You must adequately account to your employer for these expenses within a reasonable time period, and you must return any excess reimbursement or allowance within a reasonable time period.

Compensation of Owners who are also employees of the company, whereby unpaid taxes may result in personal liability for the employer.

It has been reported that the IRS has already commenced with the process of selecting entities for audit of their employment taxes now that the employment tax audit Initiative has begun. Severe consequences wait for employers who are in noncompliance with the employment tax laws. Businesses are highly encouraged to make sure procedures are set to adhere to the applicable tax laws. Doing so can thwart much headache, and the loss of money and productive office time in the event of an audit.

For example, the Internal Revenue Code requires a written reimbursement plan in order to take advantage of the tax benefits of legitimate business expenses. Employers should consider consulting with experienced counsel in preparation for the Initiative and in the event of an audit of their employment taxes.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Tax Deductible Wiki:

IRS To Take On Karl Rove? Tax Laws Could Take A Bite Out Of Secret Political Spending

WASHINGTON — Top Republican political strategist Karl Rove’s method of secretly funneling unlimited contributions from big donors was so hugely successful in the 2010 campaign that Democrats are now trying to copy it. But his model may yet end up backfiring spectacularly.

Legitimate Charity Drive to Counteract VFX’s Faux Charity Drive