Donating time?

[d2creative]

Do you keep track of donated time for charity/non-profits?
Do you send a "paid in full" invoice to the organization for documentation purposes?
Do you claim things like this come tax time?

[Howard Barlow]

Your time cannot be deducted. Neither can 'profit'. If you donate an image that sells for $100, but you paid $10, you can only deduct $10.

[d2creative]

That's fine.
I guess I'm just wondering if anything should be documented or if there is anything special I should do, or if I shouldn't even worry about it. From a business standpoint.

Thanks!

[CaptainTom]

document all of your donated time, mileage, photos, etc. The rules today may not be the same come tax time. At tax time, your accountant or tax advisor will let you know what is deductible or not.

[arcproducts]

yea - mileage for sure. even if it is not photography donation related. if you do regular volunteer work for a charitable organization, claim your mileage. and like tom said, let your cpa or tax person determine where to plunk it on the ole tax return.

[LadyShutterBug]

When I work charity events for free, I generally have the chairty send me a letter stating the amount that I donated "in kind". For instance, if I shoot a gala for 4 hours, I let them know that my normal rate per hour for this service is ___.

They send me a letter saying "Thanks for your in-kind donation of ____."

I give that letter to my accountant.

[adirty1]

Originally Posted by LadyShutterBug

When I work charity events for free, I generally have the chairty send me a letter stating the amount that I donated "in kind". For instance, if I shoot a gala for 4 hours, I let them know that my normal rate per hour for this service is ___.

They send me a letter saying "Thanks for your in-kind donation of ____."

I give that letter to my accountant.

but you didnt donate x dollars you donated time. you can not deduct the time. Now if they wrote you check and you then donated the check back to them then you could write off the money but you have to report it as income and pay the taxes on it.

[CobyPhoto]

In dontating ANYTHING, to a charity, first make sure they are 501(c)3 and legit. If they aren't, you can't write off anything. Period.

Once that is established, you can ONLY write off ACTUAL costs of that you have. (Actual = Prints, travel, expenses, etc. that you had o pay for to do the work etc.) NONE of your time can be taken as a deduction, document all you want however, that isn't changing anytime in the near future, I assure you.

CJ

[Howard Barlow]

[Steelsun]

And donating anything now requires paperwork.
No longer can you put $5 in the collection basket every week at church then claim $260. No receipt, no deduction.