The holiday season is always a great time of year to be charitable, but you don’t need to send yourself to the poor house in the process. There are many ways to make the most of what you already have, and turn what you don’t need into a charitable donation. For many, the giving process is not thought out and cost more than is necessary. Having tax saving tips can make a huge difference when it comes to the holidays, make sure you have a plan.
Charitable Donation Tax Deduction to Lower Income Tax
Whenever you have the ability to donate to people in need, everybody wins. You’ll feel good because you provided for someone who was without, and the beneficiary received the much-needed help. But did you know that there’s a way to give to charity that gives you more than just the warm, fuzzy feeling of having done a good deed? If you invest in stocks, you can donate appreciated assets to charity and come out ahead through a charitable donation tax deduction.
The Lustgarten Foundation is an organization that supports research for pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in both men and women, and although the mortality rate for pancreatic cancer is alarmingly high, the federal government spends very little money on research for a cure. This year alone, 44,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and 38,000 will die from it. The biggest problem with pancreatic cancer is the difficulty in diagnosing it; there are no reliable screening tests for the cancer, and symptoms so similar to other diseases that primary diagnoses are often incorrect. Pancreatic cancer research is absolutely crucial for screening tests to be developed and for a cure to be found, because even one death due to cancer is one too many.
As we’ve blogged previously about the 2013 ALS Walk, our own Emanuel DeFreitas has a personal stake in the fight to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His sister has been diagnosed with this debilitating disease, and the entire family at DeFreitas and Minsky Certified Public Accountants got together to raise money and walk in her honor.