Why Giving Cash is the Best Option for Donations and Taxes

Making a donation to a charity shop or a good cause is a great way to give back to the community and to help others.  However, when it comes to your taxes and charitable giving, cash reigns supreme.  Why should you donate cash, rather than buying raffle tickets, buying baked goods or donating items to a charity or thrift store?

First, valuing cash is far simpler than putting a value on an item or another type of donation.  This is an essential consideration when doing your taxes, as you will have to have the right value in order to use it as a write off.

Another important consideration with your taxes is that you cannot write off a service performed.  Therefore, giving cash is a better idea than giving your time, as you will not see a return on an investment of time.

For some items, you are only able to write off a nominal amount of money on your taxes.  For instance, if you donate a work of art to a charity, you cannot write off full market value.  This limits the amount that you will get back on your taxes.

In addition, if you make a donation and receive something in return (say, winning a prize in a raffle), you can only write off the difference between your donation and the worth of what you received.  This can backfire in many instances, particularly if the worth of what you receive is greater than your donation!  Your taxes will not reflect anything good in this instance.

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