- quote -

==> AGI for

- quote -


- quote -

Sure.

You were supposed to recognize that I left out two little
and very important words in the above message :^)

Thanks for the catch.

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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Arthur Kamlet wrote:
- quote -

I don't think this is quite correct. You can deduct 100% of
the charitable gifts up to 50% (or 30%) of AGI. So, the
limit only affects taxpayers who make very large
contributions, not to the average person who gives to his
church and the local community fund.

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"mbz16v" <anothertaylor[at]nospam.sbcglobal.net> writes:

- quote -

Read the W-4. You're filing a fraudulent document. This is
an easy one for the IRS to catch since all exempt W-4's go
to them and the computers can easily see that you have a
filing requirement.

Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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- quote -

You'll find the limits listed here:

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/ar02.html#d0e2132

"Jack" - John H. Fisher - TaxService[at]aol.com
Philadelphia, Pa - Atlantic City, NJ - West Wildwood, NJ
My Newsgroups & Boards at: http://members.aol.com/TaxService/index.html

Where Ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise!=

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- quote -

Gifts of cash are limited to 50% of your AGI (basically your
salary) if given to churchexs or other 501(c)(3) charities.
Capital gain property (like stocks) is limited to 30%. And
gifts to private foundations are limited to 20%. It's pretty
complicated to look at specifics.

Unless you have an awful lot of deductions besides the
charitable contributions, you're going to owe a pretty penny
in income tax, because you didn't have enough withheld.

--
Thomas E Healy, CPA, PC
1650 38th St., Ste 202W
Boulder, CO 80301
Please send email to: tom[at]tomhealycpa.com, since I block all email at my
newsgroup address.
phone (303) 443-1804
fax (720) 489-3772

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mbz16v <anothertaylor[at]nospam.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

- quote -

You should not have written exempt. Rather you should have
submitted a W-4 form with a large number of exemptions.

- quote -

You can give as much as you wish to charity, but the amount
you can deduct is limited each year and the difference can
be carried forward to next year.

If this is a public charity, such as the Red Cross or the
American Cancer Society or The University of Michigan
Development Fund (Go Blue!) you can deduct up to 50% of your
cash or cash equivalent gifts, and 30% of noncash gifts.
For a private foundation you are limited to 30%/20%. The
organization can tell you that a) the IRS has been deterined
they meet the requirements of a 501(c)(3) organization and
b) whether they are a 50% or a 30% organization. IRS
Publication 78 contains the same informaiton.

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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mbz16v wrote:

- quote -

Your AGI is usually the last line on the front page of form
1040, so you're going to have to estimate your tax position
to arrive at it.

The percentage of AGI that is used depends on the type of
organization that is donated to. Churches (and OPERATING
private foundations) are 50%. [Non-operating] private
foundations are 30%. There's also a 20% limit for certain
types of property donated.

If you made about $100k, then your maximum is about $50k
(assuming you give it all to a 50%-type organization). If
you overshoot, the excess amount carries forward to the next
year (and up to 5, then is lost).

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"mbz16v" <anothertaylor[at]nospam.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

- quote -

AGI is Adjusted Gross Income. This is the total of your
income and business losses adjusted for items like self
employment tax, alimony payments, self employed health
insurance premiums and some other items. Essentially, and
depending on the specific charity, you can claim an itemized
donation of up to 50% of your AGI. Without knowing anything
else about your specifics, your wages of $100K should allow
you to contribute and deduct $50K.

The real problem you have, as I see it, is that you do NOT
qualify to be exempt from withholding. You do NOT get to
"elect" out of withholding. Your employer could also be in a
jam because they should have known better than to allow you
to file as exempt.

Gene E. Utterback, EA

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The contribution limit depends on the kind of organization
and the kind of property. The organization will be able to
tell you which contribution limit (50% or 30%) applies.

There's a 50%-of-AGI limit on most of what ordinary people
would recognize as charitable contributions: cash and
property other than capital-gain property contributed to
public charities (churches, hospitals, college endowments,
and the like) and most private foundations.

There's a 30%-of-AGI limit on contributions to other
charitable organizations, such as fraternal organizations
and nonprofit cemeteries.

There's a 20%-of-AGI or 30%-of-AGI limit on contributions of
long-term capital-gain property (for which you're deducting
a fair market value greater than your basis).

Contributions you can't use this year because they exceed
your AGI limit are carried over to a year when you can use
them.

This means you can contribute up to $50,000 in all, if your
AGI is $100,000 and you make sure your contributions are
50%-of-AGI contributions.

But I don't see how in blue Hades you're going to get your
income tax down to zero to justify that "Exempt". Even with
the maximum (50% of AGI), you're going to have $50,000
taxable income, less whatever your other itemized deductions
and your exemptions are. This is going to leave you with a
large tax bill and a not inconsiderable estimated-tax
penalty. And if IRS decides to look behind that "Exempt" W-4
and decides you had no justification for claiming "Exempt",
they can stick you with other penalties as well and force
your employer to disregard your W-4 and withhold you at a
rate they specify.

--
Chris Green

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In January of 2004 I elected to be "Exempt" on my Federal
Income Tax. I've paid the other taxes (SS, Medicare) but
not income tax. I would like to maximize the amount of
charitable gifts before the end of the year, and need help
computing my limit for 2004. I've read other posts and the
answer to my question appears to be somewhere between 30-50%
of AGI...I don't know what my AGI is, though. I've made
about $100,000 this year, and tithed 10% to my
church...assuming I can do simple math, I've donated about
$10,000 so far. I only have a few days left to find out how
much more I can give...I just donated $500 to a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization, but would like to give more since
my employer matches my contributions dollar for dollar (up
to $5,000). 1. Can I give another $4,500 to that
organization and claim the full $5,000 contribution? 2. If
#1 is yes, how much more can I give beyond what I've already
donated to max out my charitable contribution deductions for
2004? (I have $20,000 in cash available)

Any help computing the maximum amount would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

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