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animal shelter donations tax deductible

Visit Kroger’s Community Rewards website to create an account and search for organization code “BD157” to link your Plus Card to CHS. You may also visit your local store and let customer service know you’d like to link your Plus Card to Coppell Humane Society. Be sure to checkout our wish list on Chewy for items in need for our organization.

animal shelter donations tax deductible

If you are interested, visit the Charity Motors website or call 972-CHARITY. You can deduct expenses such as training and veterinarian care, but like service dogs, you need an agency to declare the four legged protector a guard dog. Distinguish between your pets and your fosters and save documentation that separates any costs related to personal use, including your pets, from those incurred for foster animals. Where Van Dusen failed to prevail was in the case of costs that exceeded $250 each. The law requires that for any donation of $250 or more, the donor must have obtained a timely acknowledgment letter from the charitable organization.

This ensures that your desire to support the animals is clear. You can donate a set amount or asset, a percentage of the total value of the estate or a residual bequest. There are many ways that you can help the Coppell Humane Society fulfill its mission to serve homeless, needy companion animals in the Dallas-Ft Worth metroplex and surrounding communities. You can make a donation, donate by shopping, or donate your car. To support the deduction, you should keep copies of documents showing you were selected to attend, as well as agendas and materials from meetings and the normal receipts documenting your costs. Other transportation costs associated with air, rail or bus transportation—as well as the costs of tolls, taxis, parking, lodging and meals—can also be deducted as part of travel on behalf of a charity. When you donate, you join The HSUS family of staff and friends fighting to confront cruelty and celebrate animals.

Your Support Saves Lives

All donations go directly to the care of the animals in our shelters and the programs that support their health and well-being. Donations are accepted at our shelter locations, through the mail or online. If you have any questions about donations, or would like to know how you can leave a legacy for our shelter animals, please contact Monica Gery at . Donations made to your community shelter are tax-deductible as long as they are given for public purposes and not used for the payment of licenses or fees.

You can plan a gift to benefit the Shelter today or after your lifetime. Talk to your tax advisor and/ or attorney about the tax benefits and options available. For more information about making a specific donation to the Animal Shelter, please contact Lynn Formell, Animal Shelter Director of Operations, at . No, but the Shelter is a municipal shelter, or a governmental agency/ unit, and donations are still tax deductible under IRS Code Section 170. The Coppell Humane Society is now one of the charitable organizations participating in the Charity Motors Car Donation Program. People can donate a car they no longer need or want, receive a tax deduction, and designate the Coppell Humane Society to receive the proceeds from the car sale.

Charitable Contribution Deduction Checklist

We and our affiliates also care for more than 100,000 animals each year, through our rescue teams, sanctuaries and wildlife centers, free veterinary care for low-income pet owners, and other life-saving programs. The HSUS is approved by the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance for all 20 standards for charity accountability, and was named by Worth Magazine as one of the 10 most fiscally responsible charities. For more information, you can read our annual reports and financial statements, as well as check out our latest accomplishments for animals. For a donated service, such as volunteering at the shelter or fostering animals for the shelter, you may be able to claim your mileage for getting to and from the shelter. 14¢/mile, instead of the 57.5¢/mile you would use for business expenses. If you answered yes to any of these questions, your efforts to help homeless animals may be tax deductible. The Internal Revenue Service recognizes certain donations to local government agencies, like FCAC, as a charitable contribution.

While you typically cannot deduct the value of your time, you can deduct mileage traveling to and from the shelter or rescue. The IRS allows a deduction of 14 cents per mile driven in service of a charitable organization. Keep a notebook in your car to track mileage, or use an iPhone or Android app such as Mileage Pad. If you’re a foster volunteer for a nonprofit animal group or municipal shelter, this case provides some important lessons. Ideally, you want to keep the expenses for your personal pets separate from those you incur for your foster animals.

animal shelter donations tax deductible

The blog is NOT a substitute for veterinary care, advice, facts or opinions, and we cannot provide advice or consultation regarding such. If your pet is sick, injured, or in need of medical attention, please contact your regular veterinarian or local emergency animal hospital immediately. TurboTax ItsDeductible will value and track your donations so you have them all together when it comes time to file your taxes. Lester Thompson is a certified public accountant who, for nearly 25 years, has provided tax and accounting advice to charities. He serves as a volunteer on The HSUS National Disaster Animal Response Team and is a volunteer instructor with Humane Society University. He is on the board of the World Animal Awareness Society, where he has produced a series of videos on tax topics for nonprofit organizations, which can be seen at wa2s.org. Monthly giving is an easy, efficient and tax-deductible way to make a difference for animals all year long.

though some may have been affected by the tax overhaul.

Plus, we’ll send you updates and action alerts so you can take quick, simple actions for animals each week. Together, we can transform the landscape for all animals by tackling the root causes of cruelty — systemic issues that local rescues and shelters don’t have the reach or resources to address. While it may be possible to deduct the cost of shipping a pet to a new home when filing 2017 taxes, LaBrecque says this is no more. Moving expenses have been eliminated under the new tax law.

Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation

The Star Program program provides medical treatment to severely injured, abused, and neglected animals rescued by LA Animal Services. The Spay/Neuter Trust Fund helps provide low/no cost spay/neutering services for pets in low-income households by contracting with mobile and stationary spay/neuter clinics. Still, a trust is a dependable way to ensure your pet gets the care you want the animal to have after you’re gone. Beyer says that depending on how the trust is structured, the responsible tax party could be the pet owner in the case of a living trust; the trust beneficiary, who typically is the pet’s caregiver; or the trust itself. Keep in mind, too, that your claims carry more weight when your pet is a breed that’s typically used for such jobs.

One of the IRS’s core challenges to her deductions was that she did them as part of her personal community activities, not in coordination with a specific charity for its benefit. Also, she was able to provide receipts, canceled checks and other documentation to support the costs that the IRS had initially rejected. Further, the court noted that costs related to foster animals could be separated from those of pets, thus removing one of the obstacles to deductibility in the eyes of the IRS. The care of our homeless animals is made possible only through community support. Please note that during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot accept used items. For the health and safety of our shelter pets, we are no longer accepting donated canned and dry dog and cat food.

I donated food and supplies to an animal rescue throughout 2016. We accept dog houses to distribute to dogs that do not have adequate shelter. While we do not promote dogs living outside, we do realize that sometimes this is the case. Since all dogs need warm, comfortable shelter, we ask for donations of Dog-loo style dog houses. You can name the Seattle Animal Shelter and/or one of its funds as a beneficiary in your will.

You must keep records to support your deductions, so hang on to your receipts and logs of trips describing the dates, times, routes, mileage and costs incurred . If, however, you are rescuing cats and dogs on your own, without an affiliation with a 501 organization, your expenses are not tax-deductible. This is a good reason to either start your own group and get tax-exempt status or join forces with a group that already has it. For over 150 years, the ASPCA has worked tirelessly to put an end to animal abuse and neglect. We are a national leader in animal rescue, protection and placement, and your tax-deductible donation will help fight cruelty and make a life-changing difference for animals across America. These deductions may include expenses incurred when purchasing the animal as well as training fees or any veterinary expenses.

Talk to your tax advisor and/or attorney to learn more about tax deductible donations to qualified entities like the Great Falls Animal Shelter. Coppell Humane Society is a 501 non-profit, tax-exempt rescue organization dedicated to rescuing dogs and cats primarily in the Dallas-Ft. That said, when you consider all the costs incurred by your supporters , the ability to deduct these costs as a charitable contribution can leave substantial extra money on the table to fund more of your good work. This distinction is important if you undertake training or travel to represent the organization at a conference or other event.

Of particular note, the court called out pet food, veterinary costs, pet supplies and items such as paper towels and garbage bags as potentially deductible. People who foster animals often incur outof- pocket expenses. The animals remain the property of the rescue group while being fostered, so any costs incurred by the foster family are undertaken to support the charity and its mission. Thus, the costs of food, veterinary care and other support and maintenance may be deductible if they are not paid or reimbursed by the charity. Donations of money and property to IRS-recognized 501 charities are generally deductible, provided that you maintain proper records and itemize your deductions. If your rescue and fostering work furthers the mission of the 501 group that you are working with, your unreimbursed expenses are a tax-deductible donation to that charity.

Bankrate is compensated in exchange for featured placement of sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. This compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear. Bankrate.com does not include all companies or all available products. Beyer does advise, though, working with an attorney who specializes in these types of legal final wishes.

animal shelter donations tax deductible

Such a donation lowers the amount of income on which you must pay personal income tax. All donations are tax-deductible under IRS Code 170 because LA Animal Services is a department of a municipal government. You may donate by cash, check, or credit card by visiting one of our local animal shelters, or you can mail a money order or check to the Administrative Office, payable to LA Animal Services, 221 N. Figueroa Street, Suite 600, Mail Stop #105, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Unreimbursed expenses for fostering a pet for an IRS qualified 501 adoption organization can be deducted. This includes the usual costs for pet food, supplies and veterinary bills. You can also deduct 14 cents per mile for trips made to further the shelter’s work.

Training And Conference Costs

Standard business deduction rules still apply, notably that the cost of keeping an animal on work premises is ordinary and necessary in your line of business. Once you show that, the dollars spent each year keeping your pooch in good guard condition — food, vet bills and training — would be deductible as a business expense. Because of the higher standard deduction created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, medical expenses have gotten harder to claim. For the 2019 tax year, your health care costs must exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income. For the 2017 and 2018 tax year, this threshold was lowered to 7.5 percent of AGI.

While the court found that Van Dusen lacked proper records for some of her deductions, she nevertheless won the right for animal rescue and foster volunteers for a 501 group to deduct their expenses. Cash and in-kind donations to the Animal Shelter are tax deductible.

One condition to meet that requirement is that the person must be acting on behalf of the organization and must not be acting alone. If you volunteer for an animal rescue group, you’re probably too focused on finding foster homes, arranging transports or coordinating adoption fairs to worry about personal tax write-offs.

Support our work for animals while also fulfilling your own financial goals and objectives. The HSUS® is registered as a 501 non-profit organization. Contributions to The Humane Society of the United States are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Help us protect animals by signing up to be a Humane Ally.

  • As with all deductions, be prepared to provide full and accurate records of your animal’s hours on the job.
  • LaBrecque is also a self-professed dog lover with three dogs of his own.
  • This includes the usual costs for pet food, supplies and veterinary bills.
  • While you can’t claim your pups as dependents , there are other ways to get them in on your paperwork.
  • The Humane Society of Coppell, Inc. is a Texas non-profit, 501, tax exempt organization which does not receive funding from any state, federal, or national organizations.

People who itemize deductions on their tax returns can take a charitable contribution deduction for travel while performing volunteer services. For car travel, you can deduct actual oil and gas costs or you can take a rate-per-mile deduction for miles driven. (For 2017 and 2018, the rate is 14 cents per mile.) To qualify, the travel must be necessary to perform your service for a qualified charity with no substantial element of recreation, personal pleasure or vacation. Founded in 1954, The Humane Society of the United States celebrates animals and confronts cruelty—to all animals, not just dogs and cats. We take on the biggest transformational fights to stop large-scale cruelties, such as animal fighting, puppy mills, factory farming, and the wildlife trade. We will pass anti-cruelty laws in every nation, end extreme confinement of farm animals in cages, stop cosmetic testing on animals, halt cruelty to wildlife, and transform the landscape for pets in poverty.

Please fill out the online donation form to make your gift to one or more of the funds listed or contact us at to discuss other donation options. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service.

Sponsorship opportunities are available and can be tailored to fit the joint needs and focus of both your company and the Seattle Animal Shelter. Some assets, life insurance policies or certificates of deposit allow you to name a beneficiary. If these are no longer required to care for dependents, consider naming Seattle Animal Shelter or one of its funds as the beneficiary.