Turn Your Volunteer Work into Tax Savings

As the holiday season approaches, you may be thinking about donating your time to a favorite charity. Perhaps you're organizing a holiday bazaar for a local animal shelter, serving Thanksgiving meals to the homeless or transporting gifts to needy children. Or maybe you support a cause that's important to you by volunteering year-round.

However many hours you spend performing unpaid work for a nonprofit, you almost certainly don't do it for the personal tax benefits. Nevertheless, volunteering can provide tax-savings opportunities if you're performing work for an IRS-approved tax-exempt organization. Note that you can't deduct the cost of your time. But you may be able to deduct other expenses. Let's take a look.

Transportation Fees

One of the most common tax breaks associated with volunteering is mileage costs. If you take short-distance trips for a charity in your personal vehicle, you can deduct the portion of your vehicle expenses attributable to the charitable travel. These expenses include gas, oil, repairs, insurance and depreciation.

Tracking all these expenses requires in-depth recordkeeping under the IRS's strict substantiation rules. Alternatively, you can claim a flat rate deduction of 14 cents per mile (plus charity-related tolls and parking fees). The flat rate doesn't change annually and remains the same for 2026. You may fare better from a tax standpoint using the actual expense method than you'd using the standard mileage rate.

You can deduct other transportation costs incurred on the charity's behalf, including round-trip airfare and rail or bus fare to attend meetings and events. This extends to local transportation, including taxi and ridesharing service fares, while you're at the distant location.

Special Event Outlays

Tax law allows official delegates who attend a convention on a charity's behalf to write off their unreimbursed expenses related to the event. This includes 100% of meals and lodging if you stay overnight. However, personal expenses incurred while you're at the convention, such as golfing fees, the cost of a massage or admission to tourist attractions, are nondeductible.

Important: If your spouse accompanies you on a charitable business trip, your spouse's expenses aren't deductible unless he or she's also an official delegate.

Holding a charitable fundraiser at your home can also provide tax-saving opportunities. If you host a picnic, musical performance, silent auction or other event at your residence, all the expenses are generally deductible. However, entertainment expenses must be directly related to the charitable purpose. Entertainment expenses primarily for personal enjoyment are nondeductible.

Uniform and Supply Purchases

If you're obligated to buy special clothing to perform charitable duties — for example, a Cub Scout leader uniform or a 5K run tee-shirt with the charity's name — you can deduct the cost of the clothing. But you can't write off the costs of clothing items that are suitable to wear elsewhere. For instance, don't try to deduct a tuxedo or evening gown purchased to attend a charitable gala.

Volunteers often pay out of pocket for supplies needed by a charity. You might, for example, buy posterboard and markers to make signs or pizza to feed a group gathered to phonebank. These expenses typically are deductible as long as they're relatively inexpensive. Different rules apply to costlier property donations. Also remember that you'll need a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity if your annual out-of-pocket supply expenses total $250 or more.

Communication Costs

Although you can't deduct your basic landline phone or mobile device expenses, you're allowed to write off the cost of long-distance calls made for charity. You may also deduct a second landline or scanner installed in your home solely for charitable purposes.

Similarly, you can deduct charity-related costs attributable to the use of your electronic devices. And, if you use U.S. mail or other providers for charity-related deliveries, you can deduct those costs.

Youth-Related Expenses

If you agree to have a foreign exchange student stay at your home during the school year, you can deduct up to $50 per month of your expenses for each month the child attends school. The student must be in the 12^th grade or lower and live in your home under a written agreement with a qualified charity.

Important: Your relatives don't qualify for this tax break — even if the family member is a student from a foreign country.

That's not the only youth-related tax break. If you volunteer for a charity whose mission is to reduce juvenile delinquency, you can deduct the cost of tickets and other expenses that enable underprivileged youths to attend events they normally couldn't afford. These include, for instance, admission to sporting events, concerts and movies, and restaurant bills. The participants must attend with you, but your admission and meals aren't deductible.

Note: The charity you're working with must select the participants. You don't get to choose who comes with you.

For More Information

The ability to deduct volunteer-related expenses largely depends on maintaining accurate records. For all expenses you intend to claim on your tax return, maintain detailed records that provide the amount, date, purpose and name of the charity. When it's time to prepare your return, turn these records over to your tax advisor. Your advisor can inform you about other records that may be required.

Deducting Charitable Event Tickets

Most people donate cash to charity without receiving anything of value in return. In such cases, you can deduct the full amount of the contribution. But sometimes you might pay more to a charity than the benefit you receive in return. For example, you may attend a fundraising dinner or gala to benefit a charitable cause. In this case, your deduction is limited to the difference between the cost to attend and the fair market value of the benefit you received.

Here's an example: Suppose you buy a $200 ticket to a dinner that benefits a local women's shelter, and the market value of the meal is $100. In this situation, you generally can deduct the $100 difference. But be sure to obtain written documentation from the charity (required for amounts above $75).