1.  Clean out the closets and the garage and donate those unused items to a charity.  Be sure to keep a list of the items donated and get a receipt from the charity.  You can use www.salvationarmyus.org to value your donations, using the “thrift shop” value.

2.  If your donation is valued over $5,000, you must have an appraisal (art, for example or real estate) or the value of the stock on the day of donation.

3.  Still have a clunker in your driveway?  Donate it to the National Kidney Foundation (my personal favorite) or other charities.  If they use the car (truck, RV, boat)  in the charity (for example, transportation for employees or clients of the charity), you can take the Blue Book value as a deduction on your return.  If the charity just sells the car, you get a deduction only for the amount that the charity received.  In either case, you MUST have a letter from the charity to determine the allowable donation.

4.  Any cash (cash, check, credit card) donation over $250 in ONE donation (not cumulatively for the year) REQUIRES a written confirmation from the charity of the date and amount.

5.  Checks and credit card donations made by 12/31 count as this year’s donation, even if the check or credit card has not been processed by the charity by 12/31.  Make sure that you don’t count the same donation in the following year, when the check is desposited by the charity or the charge is processed on your credit card.

As you know, I moved to Missouri last year and down-sized.  I donated furniture to a church’s homeless program and tons of clothes and housewares and books to Goodwill.  I had lots of receipts and documents to back up my nice big fat deduction in 2010.

A personal plug here – if you have quality donations and live in the Columbia, MO area, please consider donating them to the Assistance League’s Upscale Resale Shop.  www.almm.org  I volunteer there on the 4th Friday of each month in the afternoon.  Come in and say hi! and find some great bargains on nice clothes, designer purses, furniture, etc. at great prices.  It is a lovely store and doesn’t look like a resale shop!

Call me or email me if you have any questions.

All lifestyle changes have tax consequences. Don’t get caught short on tax day. Call me: 573.219.9247.