Tax Saving Tip- Charitable Giving

The year is drawing to a close and and now is a good time to "make-good" on any commitments you have made to charitable organizations. The government has chosen to give those of us who are charitably inclined the great benefit of being able to deduct our contributions to 501(c)3 organizations from our income, reducing our tax liability.

Contributions to your church, your local homeless shelter, relief organizations, and other entities involved in charitable endeavors are all deductible on your tax return. In any given year you can deduct up to 50% of your adjusted gross income for charitable giving. If you give away appreciated assets, you are limited to 30% of adjusted gross income. The good news is that if you want to give away more than 50% of your income in cash or more than 30% of your income in assets, you can carry your giving forward into years where you may not be able to give the maximum.

For the most part, Americans are ungenerous. While we are one of the most charitable countries in the world with our personal income, the percentage of income that the average American gives away is only 3.2%. We are (still) one of the richest countries in the world, and we give only a token amount of our great wealth away.

As Christians our primary responsibility to give is to our local church, and then to give to other organizations that are worthy. The Hannah Medical Center is one of those worthy organizations. It is an explicitly Christian organization that seeks to communicate Christ’s love by providing life-affirming services to women facing pregnancy decisions and by upholding biblical standards for sexual integrity. I have had the privilege of being on the board of the Hannah Medical center for the past year. Jill Attebery was the Chair, and was passionate about what the Hannah Medical Center stands for. It would honor her memory to support a cause that she was passionate about.

To donate, please visit www.hannahmedical.org and click on the "donate now" button on the left hand side of the screen.

Please let me know if you have any questions about charitable giving or gifting.