Haiti Tax Relief Bill-Benefits for Your 2009 Taxes

In the wake of the recent Haitian earthquake disaster, American citizens have generously contributed to the wide-spread relief efforts. Following the enormous initial response and continuing relief needs, President Obama signed legislation on January 22, 2010 that allows taxpayers to deduct their charitable contributions the Haiti relief efforts from their 2009 tax returns.

This piece of legislation allows taxpayers to receive a tax benefit from donations to the Haiti relief effort for the current tax season, rather than needing to wait until they file their 2010 tax returns next year. All monetary donations to charities for the the Haitian relief effort given after January 11 and before March 1, 2010 may be treated as if the contribution were made on December 31, 2009. This will allow the contribution to be deducted from the taxpayers 2009 income. This tax benefit only applies to monetary donations and does not include goods or services.