Paul Caron, University of Cincinnati College of Law:

"The IRS has announced that donations made for the benefit of the victims of the devastating tsunami last weekend in Southeast Asia may be tax deductible:

Contributions to domestic, tax-exempt, charitable organizations that provide assistance to individuals in foreign lands qualify as tax-deductible contributions for federal income tax purposes provided the U.S. organization has full control and discretion over the uses of such funds.

Further details are provided in IRS Publication 3833, Disaster Relief: Providing Assistance through Charitable Organizations. To be deductible on 2004 tax returns, contributions must be made by midnight on December 31. For example, checks can be mailed to, or contributions made via credit card directly on web sites of, qualified charitable organizations…." [December 30, 2004; TaxProf Blog has more]