January 1st, 2012

How do i apply church contribution to 2008 tax return?



Question by hnm: How do i apply church contribution to 2008 tax return?
How do i apply church contribution to 2008 tax return. i am using the taxcut software. i live in texas.
So far it appears i will apply the standard deduction. will reporting my contribuition make any difference on my 2008 taxable income?
i think my charitable contributions will amount to a max of $ 1500. does this have any benefit to report considering i am using the standard deduction?will this reduce my liability?

Best answer:

Answer by rtfm
If you itemize deductions, your charitable contributions go on line 16 or 17 of the Schedule A.

Remember that unless all your deductions added together add up to more than the standard deduction that the IRS allows, it doesn’t make financial sense for you to itemize.

EDIT: You need to make a choice — either take the standard deduction, *OR* itemize your deductions. If you’re using the standard deduction, you don’t get to add your charitable contributions on top of that amount.

If the charitable contributions of $ 1500 are the only deductions you have, then it makes a lot more sense for you to take the standard deduction.

What do you think? Answer below!

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4 Responses to “How do i apply church contribution to 2008 tax return?”

  1. hrblock.laura, on January 1st, 2012 at 8:00 am Said:

    Deducting charitable contributions are a part of itemizing deductions. You would have to have more itemized deductions than the standard deduction for your filing status to have the contributions be a benefit on your income tax return.

    You need to add the contributions into the program and see if it will make a difference. It all depends on what other type of items you have paid that you are able to itemize.

    I am attaching a link to Sch. A, itemized deductions, instruction so you might be able to determine if you have other items you are able to deduct on your Sch. A.

    Laura H – H&R Block – Senior Tax Advisor 5
    **This advice was prepared based on our understanding of the tax law in effect at the time it was written as it applies to the facts that you provided.

  2. Jss, on January 1st, 2012 at 8:32 am Said:

    This deduction is itemized deduction. You will take deduction only if your itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction
    Read: http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/05/itemized-deductions.html

  3. yourtabo, on January 1st, 2012 at 8:41 am Said:

    If you take standard deduction, then you cannot use the church contribution as deduction. Of course to itemized, your total itemized deductions has to be more than the standard deduction. This means that you must have big out-of-pocket medical expenses, mortgage interests, big charitable contributions or the combination of them.

  4. Jennifer Spears, on January 1st, 2012 at 9:10 am Said:

    Sch A on itemize deductions for charity
    Instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sa.pdf
    Form: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sab.pdf
    see on the form see ” gift to charity” on line 16 – 18.

    You can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 they might be able to help.
    For the future you can try Uncle Tax: http://www.UncleTax.com you will be able to file all you late and current tax returns here and they will answer all questions you have. I use this online service to do my taxes and I can always go back to them for any questions, Good Luck :-)

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