When you recycle and donate things that are no longer of use to you, you will feel great about getting rid of the excess stuff and may even get to take a tax deduction too if you donate to a charity.

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Note: the 50% bonus depreciation can be more valuable than the Sec. 179 write-off provision because the Sec. 179 deduction is limited to business taxable income with any excess carried forward, says Butler.

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As a result, the taxpayers had not contributed value in excess of the value they received in return, and were thus barred from claiming a deduction.

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