Thats only because of how the standard deduction works; If you have to itemize, then any amount of charitable donations can be deducted (up to like 60% of your AGI i think). Basically anyone needs to “outweigh” the standard deduction with their own deductions, because doing otherwise is worse. Technically i think you could forgo the standard deduction and use your own, even if you don’t go over the standard deduction, but why would you?
That’s the point: almost nobody benefits from charitable donations because almost everybody takes the standard deduction, so “but you can get tax benefits for donating!” is a red herring in almost all cases.
Thats only because of how the standard deduction works; If you have to itemize, then any amount of charitable donations can be deducted (up to like 60% of your AGI i think). Basically anyone needs to “outweigh” the standard deduction with their own deductions, because doing otherwise is worse. Technically i think you could forgo the standard deduction and use your own, even if you don’t go over the standard deduction, but why would you?
That catch on current code is that they combined exemption with standard deduction. Makes it quite a bit more difficult than the before times.
I’ll leave it at that as I’m generally overwhelmed with unparalleled Internet tax expertise any time the subject arises.
That’s the point: almost nobody benefits from charitable donations because almost everybody takes the standard deduction, so “but you can get tax benefits for donating!” is a red herring in almost all cases.