You might be tired of spending money after Christmas shopping, but you can still sneak in some tax-deductible donations to local charities this holiday season.
If you donate before the new year, you can write it off on your taxes.
Manna Ministries in Virginia Beach says they're crossing their fingers for some last-minute donations.
“Year-end giving is absolutely enormous for our ministry... We have a budget, per se, but we don’t know how many families we help," said John Voorhees with Manna Ministry of Tidewater. "Whatever comes in to us goes out directly to the families. So basically, for every $150 we get, we can serve a family of six two weeks of food. So to think about what the importance of that is for us, it’s enormous.”
While you're making donations, financial experts at NerdWallet recommend that you to keep an itemized list.
"You need to itemize your deductions in order to get tax deductions for charitable donations. If you take the standard deduction, that's not open to you. So that's another thing to think about as you set your budget for charitable giving, and you set your timeline for charitable giving, as well," said an expert. "And if you donate at the register, you're going to want to keep proof of that donation - whether it's your purchase receipt, or even your credit card or bank statement."
Another reminder: charities have to be recognized by the IRS to be eligible for a tax deduction.
While you're thinking about spending money, there may be some money you have to spend before the year ends.
If your health benefits allow, you can open a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) which you can put pre-tax money in from each check to spend on healthcare.
Health
Use it or lose it! Here's how you can spend FSA money before year's end
You can do the same with a Health Savings Account (HSA), but with an FSA, you have access to your entire year of planned contributions on day one. The limit this year was just over $3,000, for example.
The thing is, you often have to spend that money by the end of the year, which means your deadline is coming up.
For examples of how to spend your FSA money, click here.
For information on how tax-deductible donations work, click here.
