Supporting philanthropic organizations is not only beneficial for our communities, it often reduces our income tax liability. The CARES Act offers several opportunities to increase the tax benefits of your charitable giving in 2020. The following two advantages apply only to cash contributions and exclude contributions made to donor advised funds (DAFs) or supporting organizations. Temporary benefits include:

Tax filers are allowed an “above-the-line” deduction for qualified charitable contributions of up to $300. Qualified contributions may be deducted against 100 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI), rather than the previous limit of 60 percent for cash gifts. Deductions for gifts of appreciated assets remains capped at 30 percent of AGI. Pause and evaluate any planned qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from your IRA. While often a tax-savvy strategy, the IRS waiver of RMDs for 2020 likely means another approach will be more effective this year.

Bundling your charitable gifts, or making large gifts every two-to-three years may still make sense. But remember, the temporary higher deductions only apply to cash gifts and exclude donor-advised funds. Don’t gift assets that have declined in value below their original purchase price. If you have assets that have declined in value below their original purchase price and want to benefit a charitable organization, sell the securities first and gift the proceeds to charity. This will allow you to capture the tax loss and possibly benefit from a higher tax deduction.

If you have a secure job, sufficient down payment and can maintain your rainy-day fund, this low interest environment may be a good time to step into a home purchase.

It will be important to evaluate with your realtor the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on home prices in your area. While the Fed has suspended evictions and foreclosures on loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration and ordered similar relief from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, individuals who face financial hardship may be looking to sell quickly, prior to foreclosure. Appraisals are partially based on recently closed transactions. As a result, values tend to be slightly high during a declining market and slightly low during periods of market appreciation

If your income or savings has decreased, or if you were planning to withdraw funds from your portfolio in the near term, it is a good idea to revisit your budget.

Limiting withdrawals during periods of market declines will allow your dollars to go much farther when growth continues.

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