Tips on Making Charitable Contributions:

• Be wary of charities with names that are similar to familiar or nationally known organizations. Some fake charities use names or websites that sound or look like those of respected, valid organizations. Legitimate charities will make available their Employer Identification Number (EIN), if requested, which can be used to verify their legitimacy through the IRS.
• Don’t give out personal financial information, such as Social Security numbers or passwords, to anyone who solicits a contribution. Scam artists may use this information to steal identities and money from victims. Donors often use credit cards to make donations. Be cautious when disclosing credit card numbers. Confirm that those soliciting a donation are calling from a legitimate charity.
• Don’t give or send cash. For security and tax record purposes, contribute by check or credit card or another way that provides a receipt of the gift.

Another long-standing type of deception involves scams that happen in the wake of natural disasters.

Following major disasters, it’s common for scam artists to impersonate charities to get money or private information from well-intentioned donors. Scam artists use a variety of strategies. Some scammers operating bogus charities may contact people by telephone or email to ask for money or financial information.

Before you give, utilize Select Check on the IRS website to determine if a non-profit is real or not.

The IRS has announced the 2017 standard mileage rates. These rates can be (but are not required to be) used to calculate the deductible expenses of using a vehicle for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

The standard mileage rates for the use of a vehicle in 2017 will be:

• 53.5 cents per mile for business miles driven, a 0.5 cent decrease from the 2016 rate
• 17 cents per mile for medical or moving purposes, which was 19 cents for 2016
• 14 cents per mile driven while serving charitable organizations

The business mileage rate was reduced half a cent per mile and the medical and moving expense rates each fell 2 cents per mile from 2016. The charitable rate is designated by law and will not change.

The standard mileage rate for business is based on a yearly study of the fixed and variable expenses of operating a vehicle, unlike the rate for medical and moving purposes, which is based solely on the variable expenses.

Using these rates is optional. You can always calculate the actual cost of using your car instead.