The Link Team had a great time with the Redwood Empire Food Bank on their Trot To End Hunger today! Great people and an even better cause. Proud to have them as neighbors and amazing community members. If you are visiting our office, we also have a collection food bin in the lobby, so please stop by and bring any canned or packaged food you have to donate.
If you’re a volunteer who works for charity, you may be entitled to some tax breaks if you itemize deductions on your tax return. Unfortunately, they may not amount to as much as you think your generosity is worth.
Because donations to charity of cash or property generally are tax deductible for itemizers, it may seem like donations of something more valuable for many people — their time — would also be deductible. However, no tax deduction is allowed for the value of time you spend volunteering or the services you perform for a charitable organization.
It doesn’t matter if the services you provide require significant skills and experience, such as construction, which a charity would have to pay dearly for if it went out and obtained itself. You still don’t get to deduct the value of your time.
However, you potentially can deduct out-of-pocket costs associated with your volunteer work.
The basic […]
On Monday, July 23rd, the team from Linkenheimer, along with significant others met up after work at the Redwood Empire Food Bank to lend a helping hand. Summer months are always tough for REFB in terms of finding volunteers, so we were excited to be able to participate and assist a great local non-profit that has been serving Sonoma County for over a decade, providing meals to elderly, children and those in need. Over the course of our two hours there, we formed an assembly line to put together over 300 boxes of food for the elderly in our community, weighing in at over 7,000lb of food staples and drinks. Local charities like these are what makes Sonoma County such a great place to live and do business in and we are proud to support them.
Because donations to charity of cash or property generally are tax deductible (if you itemize), it only seems logical that the donation of something even more valuable to you — your time — would also be deductible. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Donations of time or services aren’t deductible. It doesn’t matter if it’s simple administrative work, such as checking in attendees at a fundraising event, or if it’s work requiring significant experience and expertise that would be much more costly to the charity if it had to pay for it, such as skilled carpentry or legal counsel.
However, you potentially can deduct out-of-pocket costs associated with your volunteer work.
The basic rules
As with any charitable donation, for you to be able to deduct your volunteer expenses, the first requirement is that the organization be a qualified charity. You can use the IRS’s “Tax Exempt Organization Search” tool (formerly “Select Check”) at https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search to find out.
Assuming the charity is qualified, you may be able to deduct out-of-pocket costs that are:
Supplies, uniforms […]
Following a long Thanksgiving weekend, the Linkenheimer team, along with some clients, family and friends, teamed up, to help fight hunger in our community and provide food for those less fortunate. Over the course of our time there, we work in the warehouse to assemble boxes, fill them with canned food, drinks and other items, that in the end, would be provided to seniors in our community. There are so many amazing non-profits in our community, working together to make Sonoma County an amazing place and we feel blessed to be able to give a little back.
Below is a note we received from the REFB:
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and your team from Linkenheimer for all your help is past Monday evening at the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Your efforts have a tremendous impact on our neighbors in need, and we would not be able to fight hunger in our community without incredible people, like you all, on our side.
Together your group helped us to:
Pack 252 boxes of food for seniors in our community
=7,560 lbs. of food
=6,300 meals provided to community members in need
Again, thank you so much […]