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Charity Deduction Question

This happened almost 9 years ago. What I'm wondering is whether I should've deducted a lot more in mileage and other travel costs. This involved my wife's family; she and I filed MFJ.

In-laws (FIL and MIL) as well as wife's one sibling (SIL) lived in FL; we lived in NJ. MIL is living alone in the FIL/MIL jointly owned condo; FIL is in an assisted-living home (Alzheimer's). MIL dies; within a month, SIL gets POA for FIL.

Since FIL is going to spend the rest of his life in a long-term care facility (cost is covered by private insurance, so there's no Medicaid implications), wife and SIL decide to sell the condo, and whatever property in the condo the two of them or the grandchildren (all adults) don't want (the ransacking is amicable) will be given to whatever charities will take it. Also, since wife and I will be itemizing while SIL/BIL won't, SIL as POA for FIL, gives all the remaining property in the apartment to my wife for her to do with as she wishes.

Wife and I drive to FL and take care of donating the property to charity; the total value is about $1100, and the charities give wife the appropriate property-donation receipts.

As I see it, there's no question about the deductibility of the $1100 (the value can be substantiated by inventory, thrift shop price list, and resale value of motorized scooters, and my wife was the legal owner of the property), but what about the mileage I drove and meals and lodging (one night each way and one night in FL if all we had done was drive there, donate the stuff, and drive home). While it's true wife and I (and one of our children) drove to FL for the primary purpose of doing our share of ransacking MIL's apartment and donating what was left to charity, we (1) also make a vacation out of the trip, and (2) would've taken a stateside vacation somewhere that summer anyway; we took it along the Atlantic coast simply because we had a reason to go to FL.

Reply to
Stan K
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At best, your local mileage of delivering the items donated from the local residence in FL would be charitable miles. The rest have a mixed purpose, which disqualifies them (as a contribution*). Also, as the amounts of your trip from NJ to FL and back would exceed $250, you would need some charity to acknowledge that those "out-of-pocket" expenses were for its purposes - good luck with that.

  • - It's possible that you migth be able to add some portion of the costs to the basis of the items you did acquire and bring back, but you didn't ask that question.
Reply to
D. Stussy

How about the deductibility of the donated property? I thought you can deduct the lesser of cost or FMV. Since the property was gifted to Mr K and his wife, isn't their cost zero?

Reply to
Russ in San Diego

Basis, not cost. Their basis is defined to be the same as the donor's.

Seth

Reply to
Seth

Not so fast on the "gift." This is property from a deceased relative where the inheriting relative (FIL) doesn't want it - which may be a valid disclaimer, and thus their basis (NOT COST - IRC 1015ff.) may not be zero. WIthout probate, they, as children of the deceased, are next in line. However, valuation and deductibility of the donated property was excluded from the question.

Without the estate issue raising basis to FMV, the cost of the recipients is the cost of the original owner plus any transfer (i.e. gift) tax paid, so it's still NOT ZERO.

Reply to
D. Stussy

This is where I have a problem with this. Does the POA specifically give SIL the power to give FIL's stuff away while he's alive? I seriously doubt it - that would be an unusual provision. And the rule in most states, if not all, is that someone holding a power of attorney has no power to make gifts without that specific provision.

In short, the property still belongs to FIL, and no one else has a legitimate right to donate it or (if donated) deduct its value, than FIL. I've seen cases where the IRS will contests gifts made in this manner. And they win when they do.

Reply to
Stuart A. Bronstein

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