2009 Deduction for 2010 Haitian Contributions

The devastation from the earthquake in Haiti has been felt by all of us.  The outpouring of aid to that impoverished island nation has been unprecedented.  But the needs have also been great.  Politics has been put aside, those of the liberal and the conservative persuasion have rallied to assist in the tragedy that has impacted Haiti.

In a rare move, Congress has passed legislation to encourage contributions for the relief efforts in Haiti.  Charitable contributions made for the relief of earthquake victims in Haiti may be deducted on your 2009 income tax return, rather than waiting to take the deduction on your 2010 return.  Normally, a deduction is allowed only in the year in which the expenditure is made.  Based on the language in the legislation, it is not mandatory to deduct it in 2009.  If you choose to wait until 2010 to take the deduction, that is acceptable.

Four conditions must be met in order to deduct the contribution in 2009:

• The contribution must be made after January 11, 2010 and before March 1, 2010.
• The contribution must be a cash contribution.  This simply means that the contribution cannot be in goods such as food or clothing.
• The contribution must be for the relief of victims in areas affected by the Haitian earthquake on January 12, 2010.
• All other usual requirements for deducting charitable contributions are met.  Primarily, this means that the contribution must be made to a qualified charitable organization.  If you are in doubt you can check the IRS list.  This list of qualified charitable organizations is published in IRS Publication 78, or it may be viewed at http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96136,00.html.

Since a number of contributions are being made via dialing a cell phone number, the IRS will accept a telephone bill showing the name of the organization, along with the date and amount of the contribution as meeting the recordkeeping requirement.

I would encourage you to donate, but do so wisely.  Be certain that the organization to which you donate will use those contributions for timely relief to Haiti.  On a personal note, I would encourage donations to His Nets, Inc. (www.hisnets.org).  His Nets distributes insecticide-treated mosquito nets to help prevent deaths from malaria.  His Nets has people in Haiti, and anticipates getting nets to the people in a matter of days.  People are having to sleep outside, and in doing so, are at risk of contracting malaria.  A net can help prevent these deaths.  One net costs $6.00.  I am treasurer of this organization, and I can assure you that every dollar you give His Nets for Haitian relief will go toward the purchase of nets.