Funeral Plan ? Tax-Deductible Funeral Donations

Funeral Plan ? Tax-Deductible Funeral Donations

Funeral Planning: One thing you probably haven’t budgeted for is a funeral..This is especially true when you are on a limited budget and cant afford funeral expenses. You might be surprised by the number of people willing to donate money, food and services for the funeral.

Nobody, wants to imagine their loved ones passing away, which makes unforeseen accidents and events hard to deal with. The portion of the donation can be counted against tax liabilities, thus encouraging taxpayers to use some of their income to benefit charity. Not all charitable contributions are considered tax-deductible donations, and mistakenly including deductions for ineligible groups may result in tax issues.

In general, the Tax deductible donations must be given voluntarily and cannot provide a material benefit to the donor. Only donations given to tax-exempt organizations are tax deductible.  However, tax-exempt status is not enough to signal tax deductibility.

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Because friends and other family members who know the bereaved best may realize that help is needed, it’s appropriate for representatives of the family to ask for donations to help lighten the family’s burden. If you expect an outpouring of help, set up an account at a local bank to protect the donations until they are used to pay the funeral home’s bill.

Ask permission from a family member to allow you as a friend or distant family member to ask for more help for the family. Once permission is granted, ask the funeral director Get the community to help. Request that a special offering be taken at the local church of the deceased. Host a spaghetti supper and ask that community members come out and donate to the funeral fund for the deceased’s family. Put posters in local stores and a public notice in the newspaper advertising the supper.

Be sure to include the donation bank account or funeral home address, the deceased’s billing account number and any pertinent information.

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Many people buy a pre-paid funeral plan (a type of insurance policy) to cover the cost of their funeral. Whilst this does free their survivors from bearing the costs, it can be a very expensive option and usually restricts the choice of funeral director to one that is owned or affiliated with the particular funeral plan provider.

The Good News: We are working on designing a new type of funeral plan for our members which will present much better value and allow you the maximum of flexibility.

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