hsmomofsix you have me confused. Your income for fafsa can't be zero. It is your adjusted gross income which is your income before dependents, exemptions are deducted.
Can I rant for a moment?
- Thread starter a_s_b
- Start date
H
hsmomof6
Guest
No, not our income. It was our federal tax amount that was zero.
I had our taxes done this year and I was able to claim the loads of stuff I donated. I didn't have receipts to match up to the items, that would have been more work than it was worth. I just documented my donations with a digital photo each time. He just had me estimate the value of the items, which I did at retail prices. I didn't get excessive and probably underestimated the value, but I was happy with the amount that I was able to use. Oh, and by the way, our tax was zero also! That's such a great feeling!!
- #24
Thread Owner
The easiest way to determine the amount you would claim as the deduction is like this:
What is the Fair Market Value of the stuff?
What did you pay for the stuff?
You'd deduct which ever is the lowest.
8 cans of (certain) Progresso will have a fair market value of $22. You'll actually pay $10 ($12 minus 4 $.50/2 coupons = $10).
What is the Fair Market Value of the stuff?
$22
What did you pay for the stuff?
$10
What can you deduct?
$10
If it's the successive deals where you roll Catalinas, the numbers would be:
8 cans of (certain) Progresso will have a fair market value of $22. You'll actually pay $3 ($12 minus 4 $.50/2 coupons minus rolled $7 CAT = $3).
What is the Fair Market Value of the stuff?
$22
What did you pay for the stuff?
$3
What can you deduct?
$3
The only way to claim the (higher) fair market value is for you to take the fair market value, then subtract the amount you actually paid, and the difference has to be shown as a short-term capital gain.
- #25
Thread Owner
I don't know how much you donated, meaning, I don't know the fair market value of everything you donated, but hopefully you only claimed the amount you actually paid for the stuff.
From your post, it appears as if you claimed the fair market value (even if it was underestimated). If that number was more than what you actually paid, you deducted too high of an amount.
Of course, that presumes your Schedule A deductions were larger than the standard deduction, because none of the donations mattered anyway if Schedule A was lower than the standard deduction.
So, take it like this:
Let's say you scored like $10,000 worth of stuff for only $1,500 over the course of the entire year, and you donated all of it.
You have pictures of everything you donated, and happily underestimate the value at $8,000, and $8,000 is what you claim as charitable donations on your tax return. (I'll leave out a discussion about the possibility of needing form 8283, which could be relevant here, and just keep it simple instead.)
Depending on your income, the IRS may see that high of a charitable deduction amount as suspect. If, as a result, they decide to audit, you'll have to prove your basis (the amount you paid) for the stuff, and it'll need to match the amount you claimed.
Again, I don't know the fair market value of everything you donated, so I don't know the amount that was deducted. And also, I don't know that it was useful anyway, depending on the Schedule A/Standard Deduction issue I mentioned above.
- Messages
- 2,839
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 402
I always try to answer this question and always get an earful.
Thats why I end up not even claiming any of it. It all is too overwhelming for me. I just have a box full of my receipts, but I dont have it in me to be that organized in case I get audited.
Thanks for you info ASB. You know too much!
Thanks for you info ASB. You know too much!
You're da man!
