Deductible of attending a medical clinic.

We had a similar question here about paying the airline ticket in the service of a 501(c)(3). They 501(c)(3) told the people that they can deduct half of the airline cost. I'm not sure where in the IRS code this half-of-the-cost rule came from. Frankly, it makes sense to me that all of the cost should be deductible. Is the clinic organized as a 501(c)(3)? The cost might still be deductible if it is not, but I'm not sure, but it certainly is if it is 501(c)(3).

Daughter's expenses related to volunteer activity for a qualified IRC Section 501(c)(3) organization, including travel costs, are deductible. Her costs incurred on the sightseeing day(s) are not deductible. Entertainment costs (night club covers, museum admission, etc) are not deductible.

To take the deduction, she must have a letter from the charity acknowledging her volunteer service including dates and location. She must also be itemizing her deductions because these expenses are deducted in the charitable contributions section of Schedule A.

The same rules apply to the boyfriend's costs including the acknowledgement letter from the charity.. Who ever pays for his charity related volunteer services gets the Schedule A deduction.

I would add that the law says that if there is "a significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation" involved in her travel, then the deductions would be disallowed as a charitable contribution. One would have to look to various court cases or rulings for the definition of the word "significant" as it is not defined in the code or regulations. Suffice to say that if she spends at least half the work day volunteering, she would be okay. In other words, if she only spent an hour on Saturday and an hour on Sunday volunteering her services, I believe that she would fail an audit and be denied the deduction.

Also note, that if she were to spend a few extra days, the IRS might make the argument that based on the number of hours she volunteered vs not volunteering, there had been a significant element of vacation and deductions would be denied.

All that being said, this is a grey area.

The same rules for a "significant element of personal pleasure......" would apply to the boyfriend. He would have to show that he also passed this test.

If the primary purpose of the trip was personal, then transportation costs between home and the distant location would not be deductible. The costs of lodging, meal, and incidentals incurred on days that clinic work was the main activity would still be deductible.

No. The law denies travel, LODGING AND MEALS if you spend too much time vacationing while there. Your local out-of pocket that is the equivalent to local out-of-pocket if you were home, would be deductible. E.g., the cost of a taxi to get to and from the place where you volunteer.

Section 170(j): (j) Denial of deduction for certain travel expenses No deduction shall be allowed under this section for traveling expenses (including amounts expended for meals and lodging) while away from home, whether paid directly or by reimbursement, unless there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in such travel.

So, your interpretation of that sub-section means if I'm taking a 5 day vacation to New Orleans, then decide to extend my stay by 2 days to do volunteer work for a qualified charity then I cannot deduct the extra out-of-pocket costs I incur because of those extra 2 days? I hope that's not correct.

What I am saying is that it doesn't matter whether the volunteer services occur at the beginning of a trip, during the trip or at the end of a trip. What matters for purposes of travel, meals and lodging, is that there not be a significant element of personal pleasure, etc. for the length of the trip. 5 days out of 7 for persoanl pleasure may not be a significant element of personal pleasure, etc. But if it is.... then yes there is no deducion for those 3 items of expense.

Next time I go on vacation I'm going to stay a couple of extra days, do some local volunteer work, deduct the extra costs, disclose my action with my return and see what happens.

My guess is that 170(j) means that the trip to New Orleans (airfare) is not deductible because there was more fun than work. But the side trip, while within New Orleans, to help with cleanup is -- which to me would include the miles to drive there, fee for changing your airline ticket, meals and lodging. Unless when you went to the devestated areas you spent a lot of time having fun, such as kayaking, then the side trip to these areas is not deductible.

^^^^^^^^^^^

I would say the issue is whether "such travel" must mean the full period away from home, or can refer to only the two days during which volunteer work was performed.

Suppose I leave home (NYC), spend a week in Chicago on vacation, then fly to Minneapolis to do volunteer work (10 hours/day every day) for another week, then fly home. Surely meals and loding in Mpls are deductible, and some fraction of the total airfare should also be.

Now consider if the vacation happened to be in Mpls rather than Chicago.

Seth

I would say that even if you stayed in Chicago and volunteered there for a week, your travel would be deductible as I believe there would not be a signifcant eleent of personal pleasure. You could also deduct the lodging and meals for that second week of volunteering.

The travel would not be deductible, because there is clearly personal pleasure in the vacation week. Living expenses for the second week should be.

Seth

I don't necessarily believe that one week of vacation is a significant element when compared to a week of volunteering at 10 hrs/day. As there are no published definitions of "significant element", 70 hours a week of volunteering should be enough to offset a week of vacation IMHO. 70 hours of effort clearly shows an intent to volunteer.

I don't believe you're going to get the IRS to agree that 50% of the time is not "a significant element".

Seth