Volunteer Vacations and Charitable Deductions

By MEG SOMMERFELD

As more and more people pursue volunteer activities on vacation, many have questions about whether

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they can deduct the expenses incurred during such trips.

The basic rule, according to the Internal Revenue Service, is that your trip is tax-deductible -- as long as you spend the bulk of your time doing legitimate charitable work.

"This doesn't mean literally all work and no play," says Marc Owens, who recently retired as director of the Internal Revenue Service's Exempt Organizations Division and is now a Washington lawyer. "You don't have to be bouncing up in a small boat counting whales all day," he says, "but there ought to be a substantial portion of the day devoted to doing the work of the organization." Mr. Owens advises volunteers to keep receipts for expenses, log all hours spent volunteering, and describe what they did.

He also notes that the I.R.S . will be more likely to scrutinize large dollar amounts or travel "to locations that has a resort-smell to it," such as a trip to Caribbean in January when volunteers stay in posh hotels. In such cases, it will be important for volunteers to be able to explain why a particular locale was selected and how it relates to the charity's work.

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