Monday, January 23, 2012

Main Street Arkansas Update - January 23, 2012










Main Street Arkansas Calendar – January 23 - 27, 2012

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MONDAY

TUESDAY Cary, Sam, Mark, Susan – Blytheville (board training & merchant site visits)

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Beatles Devotee Opens Shop in Walnut Ridge

Parking & Its High Cost

Taking Parking Lots Seriously as Public Spaces

Grant Opportunity

IRS Ruling

Grants from the National Trust Now Available

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is now accepting applications for grants from the National Trust Preservation Fund, the Hart Family Fund for Small Towns, the Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors. The application deadline for all four programs is Feb. 1. Guidelines and links to applications can be found here. (Please note: the Hart Family Fund for Small Towns uses the general National Trust Preservation Fund grant application. Grants from the Hart Fund are awarded to projects in communities with populations of 5,000 or less.)

Any questions can be sent to grants@nthp.org.

IRS Ruling

On December 3, the Internal Revenue Service issued the 2011 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

· 51 cents per mile for business miles driven;

· 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and

· 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates. For more information, see our article on charitable deductions for volunteers and IRS Revenue Procedure 2009-54.

Question: What Can a Volunteer Deduct?

Answer: First, you can’t deduct the value of your time or services. If you volunteer for a Qualified Organization (QO), however, you can deduct on your income taxes:

· For the use of your car: actual costs of gas and oil to and from the QO location, or 14 cents per mile (it’s your choice) – plus tolls and parking, in either case.

· Other costs, if they are (i) unreimbursed, and (ii) directly connected with the services you gave, and (iii) incurred only because of the services you gave, and (iv) not personal, living or family expenses.

See IRS Publication 526. Be sure to keep good records.

Of course, you can only deduct these costs if you (a) file an income tax return and (b) itemize your deductions

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