Giving holiday gifts through a non-profit organization- tax deductible?

Question

This past holiday, a non-profit I am affiliated with had a giving bank where we selected gifts for needy families. I bought a variety of things, kept the receipts, and also copied the tags of what I bought gifts for. I spent about $100.00 for the gifts I bought.,

The organization did not give me a receipt for the gifts I donated. Is it possible that I can claim a tax deduction for the items I bought?

Answer 1

It sounds like YOU did the giving, not the non-profit - that they only coordinated it. This is going to be a little tricky. If you made the donation to the non-profit and they passed it on to needy families, and you weren't specifying what person or family it went to, then you're probably in the clear to deduct it. But if it was specified for a particular individual or family, then probably not. From IRS Publication 17, page 153, under "Contributions to Individuals" - "You cannot deduct....contributions to individuals who are needy or worthy. This includes contributions to a qualified organization if you indicate that your contribution is for a specific person. But you can deduct a contribution that you give to a qualified organization that in turn helps needy or worthy individuals if you do not indicate that your contribution is for a specific person." You can download this at irs.gov

So it might be a little gray. I'd take the deduction if I were you. The worst thing that can happen, and only IF you were audited, is that it gets disallowed and you have to pay the taxes saved. You could make a good argument that it's a legit deduction.

Answer 2

The agency agency ought to have IRS tax exempt staus to verify that any deductions to be tax exempt. Many nonprofit organizations have less than no situations submitted the perfect application to the IRS, and easily so as that they are nonprofit, yet no longer tax exempt. If the agency agency has IRS 506(c) exempt prestige then the donation is tax deductible with the perfect documentation from the exempt agency agency as to the donation given.