Today I want you to hear about charitable contributions paid by cash or check. The first, most important thing is to get a receipt for your contribution, especially if you donate cash. If you give a single contribution of over $250 you need a letter from the charity verifying the contribution also. Out of pocket expenses for a charity are also deductible (like hot dogs for a church event, etc.) Here is a list of charitable contribution rules put together from publication 17:http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/howto/irscharityrules.htmlAnyway, give till it hurts and deduct away. I will be talking about non cash contributions tomorrow.You can count on us to count for you!
Brian’s Tax Musings
So what is passive interest anyway? Any rental or royalty generating property is normally a passive activity, which can limit your current deductions in it depending on whether you actively manage the property or not (having a property manager doesn’t mean you don’t actively manage the property.)The financing on this property is considered passive interest expense and, like all the other rental expenses, is governed by the passive loss rules. Here is an article from Turbotax that covers all passive items in detail:http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Rental-Property/Real-Estate-Tax-and-Rental-Property/INF12039.htmlAs usual, if you have questions, call me at 818-317-6035 or email me at bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net and we can discuss them.On Monday we can talk a little about charitable contributions.You can count on us to count for you!
Brian’s Tax Musings
What is business interest? Whether you are a sole proprietor or have a corporation or an LLC, if you use debt to finance your business the interest on that debt is deductible by the business. Any ordinary and necessary expense for a business is deductible by the business. Here is an explanation form Investopedia about business interest:http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business-interest-expense.asp#axzz1jLYKPaCZ Just remember that if you use personal debt to finance your business you need to have your business entity reimburse you before the entity can deduct the interest.Tomorrow we look at rental (or the dreaded passive) interest deduction.You can count on us to count for you!