Our Top Charitable Contribution Product Picks
2011 has come to a close, and now is the perfect time to get started on your tax return. Do you give away personal goods throughout the year, but hate guessing the value? Well, It’s Deductible!, by Intuit, will definitely help you out.
And here’s how:
- It is available year round, so you can enter your donations as they happen
- Item valuations are based on IRS guidelines, so it reduces your chance for an audit
- Easily imports to TurboTax, a leading tax preparation software product
- It’s FREE!
While our favorite is It’s Deductible!, there are a few other similar products available:
- H&R Block DeductionPro – also free, and importable into the H&R Block At Home tax preparation software (formerly TaxCut). A good idea if you use H&R Block’s tax preparation software to prepare your taxes.
- DeductionTraQ – the free edition doesn’t provide item valuations, it is strictly a tracking tool. The $14.95 Premier edition provides valuations for 100 items. If you have more than 100 items, additional items will cost more. Neither edition can be imported into tax preparation software.
- CharityDeductions.com – requires a $24.95/tax year subscription. Does not import directly into tax preparation software, but provides reports to help you fill out your tax forms.
Another plus about using It’s Deductible!, is the ability to value donated stock along with other items.
Regardless which product you choose, using donation software can get you hundreds of additional dollars in tax deductions. And don’t forget: Always have your supporting receipts for your charitable donations. Happy receipt gathering!
[This post was originally published on January 3, 2012 on our RL Talks Cloud blog]