New Charity Search Tool from the IRS

The IRS has a new online search tool to verify a charity's tax and filing status.

Taxpayers can use the tool for the following:

1. To verify a charity's eligibility to receive tax-deductible contributions. (Publication 78 data).
2. To determine if a charity has had its tax-exempt status automatically revoked.
3. To determine if the charity filed a Form 990-N

2009 Federal Tax Stats: pretty much all bad (if you are the U.S. economy)...

According to David Cay Johnston at Reuters analyzing recent IRS data, total U.S. income in 2009 was down 15.2% in real terms from 2007. 

From the article:

The data showed an alarming drop in the number of taxpayers reporting any earnings from a job -- down by nearly 4.2 million from 2007 -- meaning every 33rd household that had work in 2007 had no work in 2009.

Johnston goes on to make the following observations based on the IRS data:

• 41.7% of 2009 tax returns paid no income tax.   
• the average tax rate was 11.4% (up from 10.5% in 2007),
• over 1,400 taxpayers earning over $1 million paid no income tax in 2009,
• taxpayers reporting income of $10 million or more was down 55% from 2007,
• 2 million fewer tax returns were filed (meaning that millions of Americans went from “working to having no earned income or so little they did not have to file”). 

[NB: Bold is mine] 

Updated standard mileage rates from the IRS

The IRS has increased the optional standard mileage rate to 55.5 cents per mile in light of recent gas price increases.  This new rate will apply for miles driven between July 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.  The IRS rate table is below. 

The IRS announcement with the new rates can be found at IR-2011-69

Purpose Rates 1/1 through 6/30/11    Rates 7/1 through 12/31/11  Business 51 55.5 Medical/Moving     19 23.5 Charitable 14 14