Our financial crisis is being combated on many sides, with a seemingly endless series of opportunities for people facing serious hardships. I thought it would be helpful to summarize all the options created as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and give you just the facts that you need in order to consider pursuing one or more of them.
1. Mortgage Refinancing and Modification
You may be having trouble making mortgage payments (either your rate went up significantly, or your income decreased, or maybe both), or you’ve been paying your mortgage on time but your home value has decreased, so you can’t take advantage of lower interest rates. Help is available for both groups.
Visit MakingHomeAffordable.gov, and find out if you are eligible.
Also worth pointing out on that site is the special Beware of Scams page. The idea of losing your home is one of the more frightening ones I can think of. People may not always make sound decisions.
Earlier coverage of this from Consumerism Commentary
2. Tax Reduction for 95% of Working Americans
You don’t have to take any action to benefit from this. You’ll either notice your regular paycheck increasing, or you won’t.
Earlier coverage of this from Consumerism Commentary
3. $250 for SSI or Social Security Recipients
There’s a one-time payment of $250 that should be made by the end of May 2009 for people on Social Security, a veteran with a pension, or people with disabilities. You don’t have to do anything special to receive this, either. More information at Social Security Online.
4. Tax Credits for Making Energy Efficiency Improvements
The Low Impact Living blog has a great summary of the different ways you can save in 2009 by making specific “green” improvements. I’m seriously considering a few of these.
5. Over $15 Billion for Medicaid
I don’t know much about Medicaid, except that many people rely on it, and if you were worried that you wouldn’t be covered, there’s a good chance you will be, now. Read the Press Release at the White House.
6. Tax Credits for Buying a House
There was a tax credit for buying a house last year, and there’s a tax credit for this year. They have different rules and Flexo did a great job explaining both, and how to act on either one.
7. Tax Deduction for Buying a Car
Trucks are included, too. If your income isn’t too high (taxable income of $125,000 / year or $250k for couples filing jointly), you can deduct the sales tax on a new vehicle. Read more (especially the first comment) at the Sound Money Matters blog.
8. More Money for Students
An additional $17.1 billion in Pell Grants means an increase of a maximum Pell award from $4,850 to $5,350. There’s also an additional $200 million for work study programs. Quite a lot more information at the U.S. Department of Education Web site.
More details about this, additional credits and 529 plans can be found at the Online Education Blog.
Summary
Whether you think the ARRA is a good idea or not, it’d be foolish not to take advantage of the opportunities that make sense for you and/or your family. Mostly, though, I hope the growth of our various tent cities slows down really soon.
We’ve talked about tax deductions related to your reception site, but there are a few other nice opportunities for wedding-related deductions that shouldn’t be missed, both for during and after your wedding.
The I Do Foundation has a number of creative ways to incorporate giving into the wedding itself, which you can do through them or replicate yourself. I will be doing a number of these for my own wedding next year.
- Give on guests’ behalf. Give to your favorite charity on behalf of each guest, then provide a favor related to that gift, whether a printed card or something more specific. Then, deduct the full amount as a charitable donation. We’re thinking of donating to our favorite avian charity, then attaching announcements printed on plantable hearts filled with seeds (we plan to make these ourselves) to these cute dove bottle openers. (We’re trying to find a source for the doves without the packaging, however.) The favors themselves, of course, are not deductible, but they make a nice presentation. The Knot has some more stories of fun ways couples incorporated tax-deductible giving into their weddings.
- Build a registry of charities. Create a registry of the charities you wish to support, then let guests make their own selections when giving. JustGive and Changing the Present are two more great charitable gift registry sites which makes it easy to set up a registry of the organizations you want to support. You can add explanations for why these are meaningful to you as a couple and how they support your shared beliefs. Then all of your guests get to claim a deduction and they’ll have you to thank when filing their 1040s.
And this one’s not a deduction, but I’m listing it anyway because it’s a good idea: have your gift registry give back. You can create a gift registry with one of the I Do Foundation’s partner stores and have up to 10% of the purchases given to a charity of your choice.
Next time, I’ll share some donations you can write off after the wedding festivities.
We’re entering the peak wedding season, it seems.
Ever since I got engaged earlier this year, I’ve been bombarded by sales pitches from every angle. They’re certainly tricky. They come disguised in several colors of tulle, bearing elegantly inscribed messages to remind me that I only live once and want my special day to be perfect.
Perfect, of course, translates to premium, as in every upgrade on the already mile-high price list. If you’re a frugal sort, it’s almost enough to make you fall out of love with the idea completely.
For my fiance and myself, our special day will only be perfect if we can have all our family and friends join us without incurring additional debt. The perfect wedding should be the start of our perfect life together, where we can actually afford our bills and monthly expenses. So I’ve been searching relentlessly for information to plan an affordable event to remember which still reflects our beliefs and way of life as ethical consumers.
Luckily, my search has revealed that there’s a great way to save on money while still supporting causes we believe in: finding tax-deductible wedding expenses.
The Venue
I’ve learned that the reception is typically the most costly part of the wedding, comprising about half of the total cost, according to theknot.com. This estimate includes the cost of the venue, catering food and service, alcohol and beverages, wedding cake and parking.
If you choose to have your reception at a site owned by an approved nonprofit organization, your site fees may be tax-deductible, as the cost can be considered a donation to support the upkeep of the facility. This applies to a number of historic landmarks and homes, museums, even nature centers.
I’ll share a few local spots I discovered:
Prallsville Mill, a rustic, historic mill in Stockton, NJ, holds up to 150 guests.
Tax-Deductible Facility Fee: $1,850
Honey Hollow Barn, the nature center for the Bucks County Audubon Society, is a lovely stone barn with exposed beams in desirable New Hope, PA and holds up to 75 guests.
Tax-Deductible Facility Fee: $2,500 for a Saturday wedding
Things to Know
You must obtain a statement from the nonprofit organization which states the amount of your contribution. Goods and services recieved must be deducted from this, if applicable.
For church rentals, although only your accountant can tell you about any other applicable rentals, any amount beyond what is considered to be the fair market value of the rental is tax-deductible. You may be able to deduct gifts paid to clergy as well.
In order to claim these deductions, you will need to itemize them using Schedule A.
Know of any more great, tax-deductible spots for a wedding reception? Post them in the comments!
My next entry will feature more tax-deductible wedding savings ideas.
Image Credit: babasteve
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