Can you donate to your own charity?

[Opus 17]

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@Anastasia1975 wrote:

When doing itemized deductions on schedule A for all of the out of pocket expenses paid to cover the cost of cat food, veterinary, bills, medicine, and anything cat related on behalf. of the 501c3 I founded,  am I just totaling all cash receipts, debit charges, credit card charges  and putting the total under charitable donations or does it go somewhere else?

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If you provide items, they should be listed as item donations.  If you buy new items, you can use their actual cost, and select "actual cost" as the method you determined the value.

If you pay expenses out of pocket (that don't convert to items, like vet bills) enter that as cash donations as if you paid them directly to the charity. 

This is another example of why I really think you should talk to an accountant, and it may be better for you to donate money, and then have the charity spend the money for the items.

[Anastasia1975]

Wow wow wow! These are really amazing replies. I am so grateful right now! The thing about this particular 501(c)(3) nonprofit is that it is a cat rescue and we are brand new with our status. Just got it in 2022.However, despite our 501c3 being brand new, we have been rescuing a long time.and are already responsible for many rescued cats. Given that we deal primarily with street cats and medical issues, there is not yet a donor base., every cent comes out of pocket.I’m sure the IRS doesn’t much care about any of that, but obviously because they’re living things, I can’t just sit back and wait for donations in order to feed them and get them help. They are here until they get adopted (🙏🏼) My expectation is that this year will be different, but 2022 was all straight out of my person earnings from work. I’m really very thankful for the suggestions, and I believe that I will be seeking out an accountant instead of trying to do it all on my own on TurboTax. It’s really important to me that I do not screw this up. Little lives even depend on me getting the paperwork right. 

[Highgood4all]

How much money will I get back if I donated 16,000 to my own charity last year, but only made $9,000/yr salary?

[xmasbaby0]

@Highgood4all Please explain "my own charity" and how you donated more money than the amount of income you earned.  And how much tax was withheld from your income?

[Opus 17]

@Highgood4all 

First of all, if your taxable income is $9000, that is less than the standard deduction, and you will receive no tax benefit for having a larger itemized deduction due to charity donations.

Secondly, there are significant legal risks to donating to your “own charity“ because you have to be very careful about self dealing.  Some of those issues may have been discussed earlier tin this thread, you may wish to see an accountant or an attorney, if you are setting up a charity.

[ErnieS0]

$9,000 is less than the standard deduction for single, head of household, or married filing jointly so none of your income would be taxable before counting any charitable deduction. 

You would get back all the federal tax that was withheld on your W-2 plus any applicable refundable credits, such as an education credit, if you were a student.

Your deduction for charitable contributions generally can't be more than 60% of your AGI, but in some cases, 20%, 30%, or 50% limits may apply.

If you donated $16,000, $5,400 would be applied against your taxes this year (even though you get no benefit from the deduction) and $10,600 would be carried over to next year. In other words, you lost $5,400 in deductions.

@Highgood4all