A charitable tax deduction seems like a pretty straightforward proposition. It can definitely lend itself to a pretty good size deduction if you carefully itemize your deductions. There are also some things you should know about before trying to qualify for a charitable tax reduction. Following are a few tips in regards to a charitable tax deduction.

One thing you should double check is that the organization you are claiming for the tax deduction is eligible and recognized as a charity that is considered for this type of deduction. The Internal Revenue Service has an online guide called Publication 78 that can help you find a list of organizations that do qualify for the charitable tax deduction.

A few generalizations on what kind of places do not qualify you for the charitable tax deduction are as follows. They include individuals, political organizations or leadership and also if the means in how the money was raised includes holding a raffle or bingo or any gambling type of game can it be claimed as a charitable tax deduction.

It's not just money either that can be claimed as a tax deduction. Any kind of product or service provided to the charity can be claimed. Provided that the fair market value of any such item or service is all that is claimed for the deduction. It must also be taken into consideration that it must be the fair market value of the item or service at the time that the gift was given.

One interesting fact in regards to any household item or personal item when it comes to charitable tax reduction it can only be claimed for the price it may have gotten at a garage sale or flea shop. In this instance if it is over $250, a receipt is required to qualify.

There is also available some provisions in regards to deductions that involve cars, planes and boats being donated. The value is calculated at the resale price when it was donated. Yet if it goes over $500 and then sold after being donated, the person who donated it is limited to only the amount of gross profits earned from the sale and cannot claim it as a tax deduction in that case.

The year that you are doing your taxes for is the only year you can use in order to claim a charitable tax reduction. Remember though that if you are using credit or writing a check for the donation, that it doesn't matter when they show up on your statement, but rather the original date. So now that you know what can and cannot qualify as a charitable tax deduction it's time to look into whether or not you qualify.