The charitable contribution deduction has been a mainstay of the tax code for decades. The current Republican House tax plan preserves only two deductions – mortgage interest and charitable contributions. When North Carolina’s tax system was overhauled a few years ago, only three deductions survived and charity was one of them.
Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas season is in full swing and another year is rapidly coming to a close. However, there are still actions that you can take now to lower your 2016 tax bill. My standard advice for this year (and any year for that matter) is very simple:
Defer income until 2017 where that is possible and accelerate deductions into 2016.
This strategy takes on even more importance in the wake of November’s elections for two big reasons: