Remember: Charitable donations are tax deductible

The nonprofit Portneuf Animal Welfare Society relies solely on donations to do its work for animals in the area.

“Every penny that comes through to us goes to help an animal in some way,” said PAWS President Jo Lynn Anderson. “Donations keep us going.”

Monetary donations aren’t the only thing the organization welcomes. The group has also taken in a lot of in-kind donations, usually in the form of food and things like cat beds.

If you’ve made any kind of monetary or in-kind donation with an organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service — you can get tax deductions on them. They are itemized specifically on Form 1040 (Schedule A).

For both monetary and in-kind donations, you’ll need the receipt from the organization you donated to. However, for in-kind ones specifically, you should know the value of what you’ve donated. If you don’t know the exact value, you can give a fair market value, which is usually what you’d sell the item for at a garage sale.

You will also need to know the address of where the donation is going to.

David Capell, the president of the accounting firm Engleson, Capell & Engleson, said at tax time he commonly sees people forget some of this information or forget the receipt for in-kind donations.

“There isn’t any common denominator here,” he said. “You have to have the documentation to support that deduction to legally take it on your tax return.”

For in-kind donations, if it is valued $500 or more you’ll need to detail for the IRS what you gave, when you acquired it and how you valued it. If it is valued for $5,000 or more, you’ll need to have appraisals done on the property you’re donating.

You can find local organizations that offer tax deductions on their donations here.