Tis the season for charitable giving

MIAMI – Thanksgiving often marks the beginning of the charitable giving season.

For the past two years, taxpayers who claim the standard deduction were able to get a deduction for qualifying charitable contributions. That benefit no longer exists. To receive a tax benefit for giving in 2022, you must itemize.

If you have a taxable investment account, you can gift highly appreciated securities to charities. You can write off the current market value, not just what you paid, and avoid capital gains taxes. If you’re over 70 ½, consider a Qualified Charitable Distribution, which allows you to make a gift of up to $100,000 directly from your IRA to a public charity. That might lower your tax bracket.

Whether you get a tax benefit or not, there are a few best practices for giving. Beware of scam artists posing as a charity. Do not donate over the phone or give out personal information if you’re not sure it’s a trusted organization. To find out if a charity is legitimate, look them up on the IRS’s Tax-Exempt Organization Search tool.

For a deeper dive, there are several resources online. At CharityWatch, Guide Star, and others, you can see what other people are saying about a charity and how much of your donation goes to supporting programs versus overhead.