Appraisal Articles

Can you believe it?

Where did 2006 go? I just turned around and it was gone. Who is ready for 2007? But it is here anyway, and with it comes tax time.

Can you believe it?

I was reviewing the information sent by our CPA this year and it seems they are really putting limitations on all donation deductions for clothing and household items and cash charity contributions. First of all, qualified cash charity must be supported by a dated bank record.

That means you can put cash money in the collection plate at church, but you can no longer deduct it. It seems that to be able to deduct your church tithe, you now need to write a check so that there will be a bank statement or paper trail to back it up. I am not sure if you all heard about the 75 year old usher in Cary that was busted for stealing from the collection plate, but maybe writing a check is a good idea…

Second change this year is that you can still donate your Vera Wang dress that hangs in your closet, that you never wear, and you can get charity credit for it, but if it is to be valued over $500 you will need a qualified appraisal to do so. But now if you try to donate your desk with coffee rings or your used LLBean appraisal togs, you can forget getting credit for it. According to the IRS it has to be in “good condition or better”.

So very few good deductions are still in existence and I thought I should let you know that the Credit for Qualified Hybrid Vehicles is changing as well. In addition to changing which vehicles qualify for this credit, they are also reducing the amounts of the credits. So if you have any plans on buying a Hybrid vehicle in the near future, you need to check out this page from the IRS website which shows how they phase out the credits on certain vehicles in 2007.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=157557,00.html

For those of you who write off mileage, the standard mileage rate changed to 44.5 cents a mile for 2006. And for 2007 the mileage rate jumps up to 48.5 cents per mile.

Last but not least, you cannot write off a wristwatch, per the IRS, even if it is a job requirement that you know the correct time… Oh well, I am never on time anyway...

Comments? Please email me.

Amanda Rivera