Donations and the IRS?

Question

If you are receiving donations via paypal, do you report these to the IRS? If so, what do you report it as? Income? I was on SaveKaryn's original website and she said that she would report her donations to the IRS as income?

I thought that donations were considered tax free.

Answer 1

Judy is right. If people are giving you money and getting nothing from you in return, these are considered "gifts" by the IRS and are not taxable to you.

On the other hand, if you are providing a service of any kind, this is earned income and definitely subject to tax. Depending on your circumstances, this could simply be "other income" or, worst case, the IRS will consider you self-employed and you will need to file as such.

Answer 2

She may be telling you that she will report your donation so that it would be verified by the IRS. The other possibility is that "SaveKaryn" is not a a registered 501 c 3 charity an the donations would be income to her and not a deduction for you. It is your responsibility to verify that the folks you are donating to are properly registered or the donation is not a deduction.

Answer 3

A donation to an individual is not deductible by the giver as a charitable donation. These donations would typically be considered gifts to the recipient, so would not be taxable to the recipient, or need to be reported.

Receiving a donation is income if you do something for it. If you just ask for money and someone gives it to you, it's not taxable or reportable.

The website savekaryn.com is "temporarily unavailable".
That ought to tell you something.

Answer 4

You have to be a recognized charitable organization to receive tax-free donations - however, they are still "income", even if tax free, and must be reported. Your local church reports an income too, they just don't pay taxes.

Answer 5

donations to non profit orginizations are tax free, donations to private citizens are considered income and must be reported as such.....