A Tax Credit Too Good To Be True

The State of Missouri offers a Food Pantry tax credit that offers direct and tangible benefits. This program provides a tax credit to any Missouri taxpayer (individual, corporation or trust) that makes a financial donation to the Arnold Food Pantry. The taxpayer receives a tax credit of 50% of the gift (the maximum donation is $5,000, or a $2,500 tax credit). The benefits to eligible donors are:

• Receive a charitable deduction (State)
• Reduce your Missouri State Income Taxes by as much as 50% of the amount of donation (depending on the amount)

And importantly the donation supports the Arnold Food Pantry’s several hundreds of clients throughout the year.
The “paperwork” is no work at all. The taxpayer prepares a Miscellaneous Income Tax Credits Form (MO-TC), as well as a completed Food Pantry Tax Credit Form (MO-FPT) or documentation from the food pantry which specifies the name of the food pantry, the dates and amounts of donations, and the name of the person making the donations. The Arnold Food Pantry can provide and complete the Food Pantry Tax Credit Form when requested.

There are other limited conditions such as the amount of the credit claimed cannot exceed the amount of the claimant’s tax liability. If the donor reports donations used to calculate the Food Pantry Tax Credit as a charitable contribution on their federal Schedule A, the donation amount must be reported as a modification (addition) on Missouri Individual Income Tax Adjustments Form MO-A.

The Arnold Food Pantry has many donors who yearly take advantage of the tax credit. Why not you? The Food Pantry Tax credit provides the proverbial “win-win” for all, and we all want to win.