Three Things to Know about Political Donations

Here's a list from CNN Money of three things to know about political donations and my thoughts on each:

• You can give only so much - Directly that is. 527's allow you to side-step this rule.

• Your info will go public - Yep. You can search on the web easily and find out who gave what to whom.

• You won't get any thanks from Uncle Sam - No federal tax deduction. What a rip.

By the way, I track tax deductible versus non-tax deductible gifts in Quicken by using two different categories. Tax deductible gifts go into the "offerings" category while non-tax deductible gifts are simply labeled "donations." Makes it easier at tax time to sort through which is which.

Comments

[Chris]

In Minnesota, you can donate to a Minnesota political organization or candidate and get up to a $50 rebate from the state.

http://www.taxes.state.mn.us/individ/other_supporting_content/political_contrib_refund.shtml

[margaret]

In Canada, you get a higher tax deduction for political donations than you get for regular charitable donations.