Money Method: Eight Tax Tips to Deduct Charitable Contributions

(Clothes Donation Bin in Montclair, NJ
Image taken by T.C.)

Remember that donation you gave to that charity a few months ago? What about the clothes you donated in the donation bin, or the Salvation Army and Goodwill? Well, if you saved your receipts they may help you this tax season.  Depending on how much you donated in 2014, you can claim the gift as a deduction which may lower your tax. The IRS provided eight tax tips you should know about when it comes to deducting your gifts to charity:

Money Method: Seven Tips to Determine if Your Gift is Taxable

As you hustle through your W-2s you will need to fill out your taxes by April 15th, don’t forget the monetary gifts you gave in 2014. If you gave money or property to someone as a gift, you may be thinking about the federal gift tax. According to the Internal Revenue Service, many gifts are not subject to the gift tax. Here are seven tax tips the IRS provides about gifts and the gift tax.

Money Method: 8 Common Tax Mistakes to Avoid

The deadline to file your taxes is quickly approaching. And many of you have placed yourself under enormous amounts of pressure to get those 1040 Forms filled out by April 15. Try not to rush through filing out those forms, because if you make a mistake on your tax return, it will likely take the Internal Revenue Service longer to process it. Which means, your refund will be delayed. The best way to avoid tax filing mishaps is to use IRS e-file. According to IRS.gov, paper filers are about 20 times more likely to make a mistake than e-filers. IRS e-file is the most accurate way to file your tax return.

The IRS found eight common tax-filing mistakes that cross their desks every year. As you try to beat the April 15th deadline try to avoid the following hiccups:

Money Method: Last Minute Tax Tips

Every other day an e-mail comes in reminding me that I need to hurry up and file my taxes. But guess what? I took my own advice and filed my taxes in the beginning of the year. (see: 6 Reasons to File Your Taxes Early) 

The rest of you now have a little more than a week to fill out those 1040 forms. For whatever the reason, nearly 28 percent of Americans wait until the very last minute to get their W-2’s in order. This sometimes leads procrastinators at financial risk because they didn't give themselves enough time to get their tax documents organized.

Now, I am not a tax expert but I am a taxpayer and a consumer… so I’m just passing along the information that has helped me over my tax filing years. Personal finance websites WalletHub and CardHub recently sent along a list of last-minute tax tips from more than 15 experts and provided a guide to avoiding tax scams during this risky time of year.

If you've taken a break from shuffling through your tax paperwork, here are several tips that WalletHub suggest which may help motivate you to get those 1040s signed, sealed and in the post by April 15.

Kim Ramsey's Real Story with PGAD

Rare Disorder Activist, Kim Ramsey, joins Arts of Cultures once again in another episode of Better Said Than Written.

This time around Kim shares her personal story of Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD). Kim walks us through when she realized she was suffering from PGAD, finding treatment, and how she recovered from backlash from the Black community, the medical community, and the media.

Click the green play button to get the full story.


Kim's previous appearances on Better Said Than Written:

Episode 04: Introducing Kim Ramsey Pt. 1

Episode 06: Kim Ramsey Pt. 2: Lack of Intimacy in the Black Community