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Tsunami Relief ContributionsSenators Chuck Grassley, Republican (Iowa), and Max Baucus, Democrat (Montana), made a proposal that was enacted into law that 2004 charitable tax donations deadline - which normally would have ended on December 31, 2004 - be extended until January 31, 2005 for earthquake and tsunami disaster relief donations. President Bush signed the bill into law on January 7. Donations made to qualifying charities before January 31 can be deducted off your 2004 taxes.
Note On Qualifying Deductions: before you make your tax deduction, make sure that the donation you made was to a qualified charity. In most cases, this means that the charity needs to be based in the US.
During the tsunami disaster, many people made donations to international charity organizations. For example, donations to the International Red Cross and most other foreign charities aren't tax deductible while a donation to the US Red Cross is tax deductible.
While the law extends the date for claiming donations to January 31, 2005, the law doesn't make an exception for donation to international charities. the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) isn't making any exceptions this year meaning that millions of dollars in donations made by US citizens to tsunami victims through overseas charities won't qualify for the charitable deduction.
Take care when assessing whether your donation qualifies for the tax deduction as it can be confusing whether a donation will qualify or not. Foreign charities such as the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam whose international branches don't qualify for a tax deduction also have affiliates located in the United States which do qualify for the tax deduction.
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