Deductibility of Volunteering Expenses

What is your basis for this? The statute does not seem clear.

I'm pretty sure a member of the Mormon Church won a case establishing this sort of expenditure by a parent IS deductible. I will look for the cite when I can.

My daughter has income and therefore files a return, but does not claim her own exemption.

See White v. United States [84-1 USTC ¶9170], a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals case.

An interesting case with a slightly different set of facts as we are not dealing with a member of a church on a mission. Quoting from the conclusion in White (emphasis is mine):

When the payment is for part of the costs of necessary travel and for all of the liv The Brinley's payments would be deductible if they primarily benefited the LDS Church or if the Church maintained discretion as to their use. The evidence in the record before us does not establish that the LDS Church had control over the Brinleys' payments or that any part thereof primarily benefited the Church.

What we have here is a charitable organization that states in its appeal (the 50:50 program) that only half the donation is deductible. It seems to me that the charity is saying that you can't deduct one half because they the charity don't benefit from the contribution nor do they have discretion over the the use of the funds.

P.S. I don't know what happened to the Brinley's when the case was remanded.

That would seem to be a change: I've seen approval letters that state that the 501(c)3 status was retroactive to the organization's founding. (The application has to be done soon enough after the founding for that to happen.)

Seth

I think they're saying that half is deductible *as a donation to them*; the other half would be deductible as expenses in assisting them in their cause (providing they timely get the 501(c)3 approved).

Seth

Can a "donation" have a set price? For the fundraising w/ the 501(c)3's I've been involved with, was always told by counsel that can have a "suggested" donation but if the person didn't want to contribute at all or made a smaller even token payment had to provide whatever it was (raffle ticket; whatever) despite not getting the desired dollar amount. Is that just wrong or is there somehow something different in these arrangements?

The rule is that you are only allowed to deduct what you contribute to the extent it exceeds the value of what you get in return. If you set a minimum "contribution" level when you get something in return, that might be considered evidence of the value of what you get.

So yes, they can set a minimum "price" for some contributions. But if they do, the contribution may not be fully (or at all) deductible.

___ Stu

Sure: "Donate $100 to and get an umbrella depicting the college."

Only about $90 of that $100 is deductible.

Seth