Volunteer Services as Chairtable Contribution

[GTS1101]

I have many clients who coach little league or other sports and I understand they can write off their mileage or the equipment they buy, or if they take the team out for pizza. But what if they have a son who is also on the team. Does that make all of the expenses non-deductible? Or do you somehow subtract out the portion for the son if you have to buy uniforms? What about the mileage? Would it be non-deductible since the son is on the team. Just wondering what others are doing because many people ask about this.

Thanks!

GTS1101

[ChEAr$]

I have many clients who coach little league or other sports and I understand they can write off their mileage or the equipment they buy, or if they take the team out for pizza. But what if they have a son who is also on the team. Does that make all of the expenses non-deductible? Or do you somehow subtract out the portion for the son if you have to buy uniforms? What about the mileage? Would it be non-deductible since the son is on the team. Just wondering what others are doing because many people ask about this.

Thanks!

GTS1101

First thing you have to answer- is the little team an organization with 501c3 status?

E.g. the Boy Scouts are, so scout leaders can deduct expenditures you mention.

Find out who sponsors the little league and if that organization qualifies.

[BHoffman]

See the second Q&A:

http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/taxes/deductions.shtml#q2

Hope that helps.

[erchess]

Unanswered Question

To my mind at least the two answers so far do not answer the part of OP's question that I will paraphrase as "What if the league is sponsored by a qualified charity but my kid is on the team I am coaching?"

I don't have an answer to the question. I could believe "You are coaching as a community service so deduct your out of pocket costs" or "Look if your son were not on the team you would not be involved so it is all personal" or "From every otherwise deductible expense don't deduct a fraction where the numerator is the number of your offspring on the team and the denominator is the number of total kids on the team.". If there is not an answer in settled law I would personally let the client choose the answer we went with for the client's return. But then I a generally am inclined to educate the client and allow him or her to make the choices from among options I judge as unlikely to get me in trouble.

[GTS1101]

Thank You!

erchess you came closest to answering my question. I am already assuming it is a sponsored league. I thought more of you would have dealt with this issue. I will continue to dig and see if I can find anything else. If they can deduct their volunteer exps if their son is on the team than I don't want to leave off a deduction that may benefit them.

GTS1101

[Gene V]

If the expenses for volunteer service are deductible, then I don’t think it makes any difference if your son is on the team or not. IMO

If you donate money to a University or College and you son is going to that school, aren’t you still going to deduct the donation.

[gkaiseril]

But only the parent's cost are deductible and not the child's portion.

[Nashville]

501c(3) treatment

I would like to speak to the 501c(3) treatment that ChEAr$ spoke, as I think he was trying to answer the original question with a qualifier of his own.

It would cost the Little League some $900 user fee to apply for tax-exempt status. My guess is that they would refuse to pay it. Many of their sponsors are local businesses who put signs on the fences and support an entire team's uniforms (with their name on it, of course). These businesses may deduct this as Advertising expense instead of raising all the issues that come with Contributions as an itemized deduction.

What about the guy that just simply contributes a wad of money without advertising, and his son is on the team? and the team/league has no 501c status?

I believe the 501c status PERFECTS the deductibility argument, and without it, the donor is not assured of a deduction. Note my opinion, he is "not assured" of a deduction. This is not the same as being "denied" a deduction.

My position is that he should deduct his out-of-pocket donations, to be reduced by his son's pro rata share of any consumables, uniforms, or other costs.

[DaveO]

I have an correspondence audit in progress where this is an issue. The question of if the taxpayers child is on the team or not has yet to be raised. I took all of the donation and expense to travel to the games on his "A". Since many children were involved and his contributions benefited them all I didn't subtract out the little bit for his kids.

[JON]

The point is

unless it is a not for profit charity qualified by the IRS there is no deduction. What is the possibility of any other answer. If you want to play audit roulette that is up to you, but if the issue is examined the deduction is lost. Even if it is a qualified charity you still have to get a written statement from that charity if it is over $250 and they have to say you did not get anything in return. You have a lot better chance of donating to the charity - American Legion and have them pay for the transportation and lodging of the team and the coaches, you get the deduction. It is just like the U. S. Olympic committee - the parents donate to it and designate the sport specifically and if their child is there - deduction and training.

[AZ-Tax]

Deductible miles for volunteer work

See the second Q&A:

http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/taxes/deductions.shtml#q2

Hope that helps.

It says in the answer within this link "However, volunteers may not deduct personal expenses such as meals eaten during a break in a local service project, transportation to and from a school where they donate their time, or child care expenses"

TTB 4-17 example 1 allows the volunteer janitor as his church to deduct his to and from miles.

[ChEAr$]

unless it is a not for profit charity qualified by the IRS there is no deduction. What is the possibility of any other answer. If you want to play audit roulette that is up to you, but if the issue is examined the deduction is lost. Even if it is a qualified charity you still have to get a written statement from that charity if it is over $250 and they have to say you did not get anything in return. (snipped here......

and guess what? There is no IRS requirement that such a "charity" give you such a
statement!

[JON]

I am

confused. If you have over $250 you better have something from them it you want a deduction for it to stay after the audit. The taxpayer should require it if the charity does not. It is a weak charity it they are not providing it. If you do not care what the support is I would guess your practice could grow if others do not have to have the support find out about that..

It is not what the charity does or does not do - it is what you and the taxpayer do that counts.

Remember even in a tax court case checks were not accepted and a letter from the church dated after the return was filed did not prevent the deduction from being thrown out. I do not think there is a lot of wiggel room here upon audit.

[Kram BergGold]

Over $250

Every year I volunteer for a 501 (c) (3) in New Orleans to build housing. This year I incured expenses in excess of $250. The charity has no involvement with my expenses. They give me a letter that attests tp the fact that I worked but as they have no knowledge of my expenses they can't possible comment on them, I ahve all my receipts. It is my belief that this issue is a gray area so I will deduct my expenses over $250.

As for the origianl post, I would take all driving an dequipment purchases. However, meals you need top reduce by the coach an dkids portion unless away fromn home overnight at a tournament..