Spending and Saving

Ways to Help Haiti and Your Tax Deductions, Too

Great news, both for you and for the Haiti relief effort: Donations to help the impoverished, earthquake-stricken country can count for your 2009 tax return.

(If you haven’t contributed already, read the LearnVest article for ideas to help Haiti.)

Background On The Haiti Tax Provision.

Enacted toward the end of January, the US government passed a special provision to give you tax relief if you helped this cause. In order to count on your 2009 tax return—instead of waiting to itemize the deductions next year—you need to contribute between January 11, 2010 and March 1, 2010. This only counts for cash contributions; it includes text message, credit, and debit card contributions, but it wouldn’t cover, say, the purchase of the Hope For Haiti Now CD.

Getting The Tax Break ASAP.

The purpose of this provision is to provide taxpayers with an almost-immediate tax benefit to thank them for opening their hearts and pocketbooks for those impacted by the earthquake. To receive the government’s thank-you ASAP, file your 2009 tax returns early online and choose the direct deposit option. According to the IRS, refunds can be directly deposited into your bank account in as soon as ten days.

Choose Which Year You Want The Deduction To Count For.

Of course, you don’t have to take the deduction this year. If you’d rather wait and add it to your 2010 return, you can do so (if, say, you don’t have enough itemized deductions to exceed the standard deduction amount but think that you might next year). Just remember that you have to choose, meaning that you can’t count the contribution for both 2009 and 2010.

Read the rest of this article and learn more, at LearnVest: Get a Tax Break in 2009 for Helping Haiti.

Tags: Haiti, taxes