Tax Deductable Donations Question

[Angel!]

It seems whenever there is a local tragedy, then a fund is setup to help the family. It is all over the news that you can go down to such & such bank to give money to help.

Are those donations considered tax deductable?

[zuzu]

I would say no. Not an expert but I think it would have to be set up as a "non-profit" or charity of some sort.

[Deleted]

As long as it is a qualified charity it is deductible. if it is just a group of people collecting money for someone, it is not deductible.

[Deleted]

Mar 1, 2011 12:55:13 GMT -5 Angel! said:

It seems whenever there is a local tragedy, then a fund is setup to help the family. It is all over the news that you can go down to such & such bank to give money to help.

Are those donations considered tax deductable?

Nope.
Taking money to a bank to help a specific family directly is NOT tax deductible.

[cronewitch]

Wouldn't it be nice if it was, my kid lost his job, set up bank account to accept donations instead of just giving him money. Five year old boy lost tooth is depressed so set up an account to give him money. Brother had uninsured house burn down, needs funeral money for the kids, set up a fund and deduct the contributions.

[Deleted]

I'm not a tax lawyer, but I think they are under certain circumstances. The parents don't set up the account. An account is set-up for whatever through the bank. I know they do some disasters like this. I think a few children with health problems have also had accounts set up for them. Their parents don't get the money, though.

The point is that they aren't automatically tax deductible. It pays to ask (and get a receipt.)

[Plain Old Petunia]

Here is a quote from IRS Topic 506 Charitable Contributions:

To be deductible, charitable contributions must be made to qualified organizations. Payments to individuals are never deductible. See Publication 526, Charitable Contributions.



www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc506.html