IRS: What the Inflation Reduction Act Means For You
The holidays are an important time of year for nonprofits.
According to Charity Navigator, charities receive an average of 41 percent of their donations in December. Unfortunately, scammers ramp up their efforts around the holidays, too. The solution is not to stop giving, but simply to be aware of the way criminals attempt to scam and be diligent about verifying charities and their contact information.
Here are some common holiday charity scams:
Spoofing a Legitimate Charity
Scammers often pose as someone working for a legitimate charity. They may spoof their caller ID or create an email address that makes it look like they’re calling, texting, or emailing from that charity in order to earn your trust and lure you into providing your credit card information or checking account number.
How to Protect Yourself:
- Verify all phone numbers for charities. If you want to donate by phone or text message, visit the charity's official website to make sure the number is legitimate.
- Do not open suspicious emails. If you receive a suspicious email requesting donations, don’t click on any links or open any attachments. If you want to donate online, it’s best to visit the charity’s official site directly rather than clicking on an email link.
- Check the website's address. Most legitimate charity organization websites use .org, not .com. Often, scammers may change a few letters of a well-known charity’s web address hoping viewers won’t notice.
Fake Charities
Sometimes scammers may create fake organizations altogether. They may post on social media or elsewhere online to promote the fake charity. Social media is a common place for both legitimate and fake charities to market themselves, so it’s important to research the organization listed.
How to Protect Yourself:
Verify the charity before you donate. Information can be found on Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, or GuideStar.
Fake Crowdfunding Pages
Crowdfunding and other online fundraising pages like GoFundMe and Kickstarter have provided a way for many real people to get the support they need. Unfortunately, scammers may also try to use a heartfelt story and gut-wrenching photos to solicit donations.
How to Protect Yourself:
- It’s safest to stick to pages shared by people you know and consider confirming the legitimacy of the post with the person who shared it. You can also look to government agencies and nonprofit organizations that are supporting the same cause as the crowdfunding page.
- Use a reverse photo search. Often, photos that appear in crowdfunding scams are stolen from social media and won’t correlate with the crowdfunding campaign.
- Research the organizer. Look them up online to determine their validity.
If you believe your account(s) may have been compromised by a charity scam, contact your financial institution immediately to report the fraud. You should also consider filing a police report and reporting the activity to the Federal Trade Commission.
2022 has been a year of major change, and taxpayers are going to start seeing some of the financial impact of that in the coming tax season. Fortunately, as the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service outlines, a lot of those changes could actually be good news for taxpayers.
The new law includes a lot of tax breaks for individuals who are contributing to clean energy and home efficiency initiatives.
For starters, the government is reaffirming its stance towards incentivizing people to make their homes more energy efficient.
From now until 2032, homeowners will receive a 30% credit on any eligible home improvements that contribute to their home being more efficient. This includes things such as doors, windows, water heaters, and central air conditioners that help conserve energy.
Similarly, until 2032 you can also get credit for purchasing a qualified clean energy vehicle. This includes $7,500 for a new commercial clean vehicle. Or $40,000 for clean vehicles that are over 14,000 pounds.
The new law could also help your health benefits. The Affordable Care Act was previously set to expire at the end of the year, but this law extends that coverage until 2025. This will help people with tighter finances to continue to be able to afford healthcare at lower premiums when choosing from the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Fred Hubler, CEO and Chief Wealth Strategist for Creative Capital Wealth Management Group, who built his company on alternative investments and retainer-based planning, likes the idea of incentivizing making your home more efficient. “For most of our clients in the 27 states we work in the biggest factor to reducing taxes is the use of oil and gas investments that give a large year one write down of income. “The home efficiency incentives help, but won’t “move the needle” for clients with large tax burdens.
Even if none of those other details pertain to you, this law will still help spread taxes in a more fair manner. Under this new law, corporations that are making over $1 billion in revenue will now see a tax at a minimum of 15%. This will help ensure that wealth continues to circulate and can be used to benefit the country rather than simply being hoarded.
However, the biggest takeaway for everyday people under this new law is that if you have been thinking of making more efficient upgrades to your home or to what you drive, now is a great time to start making those plans so you can benefit from these incentives.
There are many more items that could also lead to other tax breaks with this law. See what others you might qualify for in the post from the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service.
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Want to know if you’re on the right path financially? CCWMG’S Second Opinion Service (SOS) is a no-obligation review with one of Creative Capital Wealth Management Group‘s Wealth Strategists.
It’s simply not possible to get a reliable second opinion from the same person who gave you the first one. Click here to schedule an SOS meeting with Fred and his team.
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