Because of the new federal tax law, individual taxpayers are asking their accountants a lot of questions this last week in 2018.

Arizona accountants say there’s a lot of confusion as to whether taxpayers will secure a tax benefit if they make a donation before the end of the year.

"The real answer is 'We don't know yet,'" said Sandy Abalos, a certified public accountant with REDW, LLC.

Under the new law, a married couple must have more than $24,000 of itemized deductions to benefit on their federal return. But, Arizona, as well as most other states, has not conformed to the federal tax code.

“So, you may take standard deduction on federal and be able to itemize state," said Abalos. "I just encourage people do what they would normally do to benefit those charitable organizations, despite whether they receive a tax benefit or not.”

In other words, she recommended donating to local organizations because they depend heavily on year-end contributions, but don’t count on any state refund until Arizona lawmakers have voted whether or not to conform to the federal tax law.

To learn which Arizona organizations are eligible for a tax credit, visit the Arizona Department of Revenue website.