Can I donate $10,000 to charity instead of paying it to the IRS as a tax write-off?

So I just found out I'm going to owe around $13,500 to the IRS this year (ugh, self-employment taxes are killing me). I was thinking - if I have to part with this money anyway, I'd much rather see it go to an actual good cause than into the government's pocket. What if I just donated the full amount to my local homeless shelter or food bank and claimed it as a charitable deduction? Could I essentially "redirect" what I owe the IRS to a charity of my choice through a tax write-off? Seems like a win-win if it works - the money helps people directly and I don't have to pay the IRS. Has anyone done this before or know if this is allowed?

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20 comments

Ryan Vasquez

•8M

This is a common question, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. When you make charitable donations, they're deductions, not credits. This means they reduce your taxable income, not your tax bill directly. For example, if you're in the 24% tax bracket and donate $13,500, you'd save roughly $3,240 on your taxes (24% of $13,500), not the full $13,500. So you'd still owe around $10,260 to the IRS after the donation. Also, if you're already owing taxes for this year, the donation would only help for next year's taxes, not your current tax bill. The debt to the IRS is for taxes you already owe based on previous income.

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Ryan Vasquez

•8M

There are some limited tax credits for certain types of donations, but they're not common and typically not dollar-for-dollar. For most charitable giving, you get a deduction that reduces your taxable income, not your actual tax bill. If directing your money to causes you care about is important to you, you might want to consider setting aside additional money throughout the year for charitable giving. Then separately, make sure you're making appropriate estimated tax payments to avoid owing a large sum to the IRS at tax time.

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Avery Saint

•8M

I was in a similar situation last year when I owed around $8k to the IRS. I tried using this AI tool called taxr.ai to see if there were any legal ways to reduce my tax burden. It analyzed my tax situation and found several deductions I had missed that reduced what I owed by almost $3,000! The tool basically reviews all your tax documents and finds opportunities you might have missed. You can check it out at https://taxr.ai - it was super helpful for finding legitimate ways to lower my tax bill that my regular tax software missed.

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Avery Saint

•8M

For self-employed people, it's actually really good! It specifically looks for business expenses and self-employment deductions that other software might miss, especially if you don't know to enter them. It found several home office and business travel deductions I didn't realize I qualified for. As for how it compares to other tax software, it's not a replacement but a supplement. It reviews what you've already done and checks for missed opportunities. The AI is trained on tax regulations and common filing mistakes, so it can spot patterns that suggest you might qualify for deductions you didn't claim. I was skeptical too, but the savings were real and everything it suggested was legitimate.

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Keith Davidson

•8M

Just wanted to follow up about that taxr.ai thing I was skeptical about. I decided to try it anyway after doing my taxes with TurboTax and holy crap, it actually found like $4,200 in deductions I missed! Turns out I wasn't properly categorizing some of my business expenses and it caught that I could deduct part of my car insurance since I use my vehicle for business sometimes. Had to file an amended return but it was totally worth it. Wasn't expecting it to actually work but I'm glad I gave it a shot!

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Ezra Bates

•8M

If you're already at the point where you owe the IRS money and are getting frustrated with payment options, I'd strongly recommend using Claimyr to get through to an actual person at the IRS. I spent WEEKS trying to call the IRS about a payment plan for the $9,000 I owed, and could never get through. Then I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - they basically wait on hold with the IRS for you and call you back when they have an agent on the line. When I finally talked to an actual IRS rep, they set me up with a much more manageable payment plan than I thought was possible.

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Ezra Bates

•8M

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Sophia Carson

•8M

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Elijah Knight

•8M

The only ways to reduce taxes you already owe are limited. You could file an amended return if you discover legitimate deductions or credits you missed when you originally filed. You could also look into IRS tax relief programs if you're facing financial hardship, like an Offer in Compromise where the IRS agrees to settle your tax debt for less than the full amount. But there's no retroactive method to create new deductions for past tax years beyond what was legitimately available to you at that time. Your best options are usually to set up a payment plan with the IRS or, if you're in serious financial difficulty, explore those hardship programs.

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Isabella Ferreira

•4M

I went through something similar last year - owed about $11k in self-employment taxes and was frantically looking for ways to reduce it. Unfortunately, as others have mentioned, charitable donations won't help with your current tax debt since they're deductions, not credits, and they only apply to future tax years anyway. What helped me was actually going through all my business expenses with a fine-tooth comb to make sure I hadn't missed any legitimate deductions when I originally filed. Things like home office expenses, business meals, professional development courses, even subscriptions to industry publications - it all adds up. I ended up finding about $2,800 in deductions I had overlooked and filed an amended return. For the remaining balance, I set up a payment plan with the IRS. The monthly payment was much more manageable than trying to come up with the lump sum, and the penalties/interest weren't as bad as I expected. The key is to contact them before they start collection actions - they're actually pretty reasonable to work with if you're proactive about it.

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