The Internal Revenue Service recently highlighted a special tax provision that allows more people to deduct donations to qualifying charities on their 2021 federal income tax return. This is a pandemic-related provision where married couples filing jointly can deduct up to $600 in cash donations and individual taxpayers can deduct up to $300 in donations. 

Under the temporary law, taxpayers don’t need to itemize deductions on their tax returns to take advantage of this, which creates tax-favorable donation options not normally available to about 90 percent of tax filers. Ordinarily, people who choose to take the standard deduction cannot claim a deduction for their charitable contributions. But this special provision permits them to claim a limited deduction on their 2021 federal income tax returns for cash contributions made to qualifying charitable organizations by year’s end, Dec. 31, 2021. Included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted in March 2020, a more limited version of this temporary tax benefit originally only applied to tax-year 2020. The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, enacted last December, generally extended it through the end of 2021.

Nearly nine in 10 taxpayers now take the standard deduction and could potentially qualify. Under this provision, tax year 2021 individual tax filers, including married individuals filing separate returns, can claim a deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions made to qualifying charities during 2021. The maximum deduction is increased to $600 for married individuals filing joint returns.

The IRS reminds taxpayers that to receive a deduction, they must donate to a qualified charity, of which The Arc of Camden County is one!

Donate to The Arc of Camden County before New Years and claim it for a deduction on your 2021 taxes!