If you are philanthropic by nature, and have a financially comfortable retirement, you may be wondering the best way to donate to your favorite charity. If you are at least 70-1/2 you have a special opportunity in 2008 and 2009. If you transfer your funds from an IRA directly to the charity, they will not be included in your taxable income, as they would if you took an IRA distribution and paid it over to the charity.
You may be wondering why this matters, as the charitable payment is tax-deductible. However, many deductions depend on your adjusted gross income … Read more at 2008 Taxes.
February 16, 2009 – 12:58 pm
You probably know about taking deductions to reduce your tax liability. To be clear, deductions are not the same as tax credits – deductions are applied to your earned income before calculating taxes, and thus reduce the amount on which you are taxed. Tax credits are more valuable, and are a direct credit towards the tax that is due.
When you do your taxes each year, you can either take a standard deduction, or you can keep a record of tax deductible expenses and choose to use that if it is greater. For 2008 the standard deduction is … Read more at 2008 Taxes.
