Final answer:
The subject question is about a C corporation's charitable contributions and the associated deduction limits. The Heron Corporation must apply its current year's contribution before any excess from previous years, resulting in a deduction of $15,000 out of the $20,000 contributed in 2015, with the remainder being eligible for carryover.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is about applying the charitable contribution deduction limits for a C corporation, namely the Heron Corporation. In the scenario given, the corporation had an excess charitable contribution of $5,000 from 2014. For the year 2015, Heron made an additional charitable contribution of $20,000.
However, Heron's deduction for charitable contributions in 2015 is limited to $15,000, which is 10% of its taxable income. According to tax regulations, the current year's contribution must be utilized first against the deduction limitation before applying any carryover amounts from previous years.
Therefore, of the $20,000 contribution Heron made in 2015, only $15,000 is deductible in that year due to the taxable income limitation.
The remaining $5,000 from the 2015 contribution, along with the carried over $5,000 from 2014, becomes an excess contribution that Heron can potentially carry forward to future years, subject to the applicable deduction limits in those years.