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Article:
How To Avoid Scam Artist When Donating To Tsunami Relief by: Richard A. Chapo Millions of people have shown their true character by making cash donations to charitable groups providing relief to those devastated by the Tsunami. While your actions are a shining example of the best traits of people, a few unsavory groups are trying to make a profit off of the tragedy. You can avoid these scam artists by taking a few simple steps. Charitable organizations rely on tax- deductible contributions as their primary funding source. Before an organization can offer the benefit of a tax deduction for donations, it must be classified as such by the Internal Revenue Service. The process is arduous and effectively acts as an informal investigation of the legitimacy of the charitable organization in question. Fortunately, the IRS makes this information available to the public. You can check the legitimacy of a charitable organization by either contacting the IRS or accessing the agency list of charitable organizations on the Internet as follows: IRS Customer Service: 1-800-829-1040 http://apps.irs.gov/app/pub78 The above link to the IRS takes you to a page where you can conduct a publication 78 search. Publication 78 is a list of all charitable organizations that have qualified for tax-exempt status with the IRS. Scam artist and unsavory characters are not going to be listed with the IRS. If the organization you are considering does not appear in Publication '78
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