Cheddarblog

The Swiss_Mouse gives, not until it hurts, but he gives….

The Swiss_Mouse currently uses a nifty program called Deduction Pro that came bundled with his H&R Block Tax software.  It makes tracking and “fair value” calculations pretty easy.  It handily exports into TaxCut.

But the Swiss_Mouse recently read that “starting this year you’ll need to save all your charitable receipts…..Because of the new Pension Protection Act rules, the IRS now requires you to have a bank record or written communication showing the name of the charity and the date and the amount…” of every charitable contribution.  So your check book isn’t good enough anymore.

What do you expect from the people who brought you the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?

The Swiss_Mouse is going to continue down his current path, since he knew nothing about these rules.  However this might mean that he’ll have to look into something like Fidelity’s Charitable funds.   Something where someone else will track and report his donations.

Honestly, you’d think that the people who were wise enough to distribute government cheese would know that the tax code is just too damn complex.