How to Donate Your Time and Get a Tax Break
Volunteering for a cause is a great way to fill up your spare time and feel good about the work you do. There are even some ways to get a tax break when you donate your time to a nonprofit charity. You should know, however, that you cannot deduct or get a tax break for the actual time you spend volunteering. According to the IRS Charitable Contributions Publication for 2008 only "out-of-pocket" expenses when you serve a qualified organization as a volunteer" qualify for a tax break as a deduction. Expenses that may be included are gas, travel or uniforms. Expenses that are not included are the value of your time or child care costs you incur so that you can volunteer. Here are some examples of how your volunteer time can qualify you for a tax break.
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Instructions
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Drive to your charity of choice. You can deduct the gas and oil costs of driving to and from your volunteer job. If you volunteer for a charity that needs transporters, such as driving cats to an adoption fair site, then you can deduct those costs as well. You will need to keep accurate records of the actual gas and oil costs for these trips or you can simply deduct 14 cents per mile. You cannot deduct any other car maintenance or repairs as a part of volunteer work.
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Purchased uniforms that are required to do your volunteer job are tax deductible. You can also deduct the cost of cleaning the uniforms. Uniforms only qualify if you cannot and do not wear them outside of volunteering.
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Volunteer for a mentoring youth program where you serve as a mentor and you can deduct any expenses paid for the youth to attend an event with you. This can include items such as food or game tickets. Remember that you can only deduct expenses you paid for the youth. You cannot deduct your own meal and ticket expenses.
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Travel for your volunteer job and you can deduct hotel, airfare, meals and taxi fare. If your organization requires that you travel for training or to do natural disaster work then the travel expense do give you a tax break, "if you are on duty in a genuine and substantial sense throughout the trip." If you add sightseeing and recreation to your trip then it would not be tax deductible.
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Tips & Warnings
Keep all of your receipts and document mileage for accurate reporting on your tax forms.
Consult with a professional tax advisor for the most up-to-date information on volunteering and tax breaks.
