January 27, 2010

Favorable Tax Treatment for Donations Made to the Relief Efforts of the Earthquake in Haiti

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Categories: Current Events, Tax Planning, Year End Planning

Today, January 26, 2010, President Obama signed into law a bill that allows donors to accelerate the income tax benefits of charitable cash contributions for the relief of victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The bill allows individuals who make charitable contributions to aid Haitian earthquake victims to elect to claim an itemized charitable deduction on their 2009 tax return (instead of having to wait until next year to claim the deductions on their 2010 tax return). The election applies only to Haitian relief contributions made in cash after January 11, 2010, and before March 1, 2010. If the election is made, Haiti relief donations are deductible on the 2009 return, not the 2010 return.

The bill also relieves recordkeeping requirements for Haitian relief contributions. For these contributions, a telephone bill satisfies the Code Sec. 170(f)(17) recordkeeping requirements if it shows the name of the donee organization, the date of the contribution and the amount of the contribution.

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