Even if you CAN'T or don't itemize you can claim an "above the line" $300 "cash" tax deduction if you've made a contribution to a qualifying charity by December 31, 2020. Cash means cash, checks, or by credit card and must be to a 501 (c)(3) public charity. This is nice since the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made itemizing harder to do for most taxpayers. Read all about it here at Kiplinger or the IRS. You must make the payment before 12-31-20 so you can claim the deduction on your 2020 taxes filed in 2021.
This is one of those sleeper benefits that most will not know was available before it's to late to take it, IE my reason for posting it.
AND.....it seems that the "threshold" for deducting charitable contributions has gone up too......for those who itemize. This might be enough reason in itself to switch to itemizing. I think I saw that it was already up to 60% of your AGI......and now it might be 100%.
But charitable deductions done through a 401K RMD are still an option. Even if you only take that amount as your RMD this year.
Which would be the same thing as allowing a tax deduction up to 100% of your net income.......in some cases.
