Charity Events and Tax Benefits...Any?

[S-Man]

I'm (probably) going to be shooting a charity car show next month. It's a car show at a local restaurant/tavern, and it's to benefit a breast cancer foundation as well as the American Heart Association.

What are the tax benefits (for my photo biz) that I can receive from doing something like this?
Are there any?
If so, what do I need to do to receive the benefits/breaks? (paperwork etc.)

I'm not too bright when it comes to tax stuff, so any help is appreciated.
Thanks!

[DDCSD]

You can take a tax deduction for any consumable materials that you use (printer paper, etc).

Other than that there really isn't any tax benefits. You can't deduct for your time or equipment wear.

Some will come along and say to bill them for your time and then donate that same amount back to the organization, but that doesn't do you any good. Why make more paperwork for yourself when it all ends up being the same in the end?

[egordon99]

You can also deduct your miles driving to/from the event :)

But yeah, you can't "write off" your time ;)

[S-Man]

It just so happened that I saw the episode of Seinfeild Last night where Kramer tells Jerry to "Just, write it off..."
Jerry: "Write it off of what? You don't even know what a writeoff is, do you?"

K: "No. Do you?"

Jerry: "No!"

K: "Well the big companies do, and they're the ones, writing it off..."

Classic stuff...

Thanks for y'alls help too.

[DDCSD]

You can also deduct your miles driving to/from the event :)

But yeah, you can't "write off" your time ;)


Oops, forgot about the mileage!

[egordon99]

Since I don't shoot "film", mileage is about all I can write off for my charity shooting... :lol:

[DDCSD]

Since I don't shoot "film", mileage is about all I can write off for my charity shooting... :lol:


Yep, unless you actually do the printing, there just isn't much tax benefit for charity shooting. I guess you just have to do it for the right reasons instead! :lol:

[S-Man]

Hopefully I'll make some contacts and business prospects. As one of the "sponsors" my logo will be on the shirts and stuff.
Plus a percentage of print sales from the event will go to the charity as well. We'll see how this go's I suppose.

[AssassinJN]

I may be wrong, but as far as other arts are concerned; often if you are donating photographs to the event (digital or physical) you can have a sort of "bill of receipt" written up with the fair market value of what you give them. For instance if you are giving them a digital copy of a photo with rights to be used in a print campaign, then you can mark on your tax return a donation in the amount of what you would typically get paid for that photo. Digital makes it a bit of a fine line, but that's how it was explained to me by a tax professional.

Edit: That explanation is a bit confusing, but think of it this way. If you were to purchase the photograph from yourself (or someone else, if that's easier to understand), then it would have value greater then that of the materials. If you donated a photo your purchased, your donation would be the value of the photograph as a piece of art, not the value of the paper and ink it was printed with. You can deduct a fair market value for the product, but not for the service of making the product.

[tracknut]

I may be wrong,

As far as I know, yes you are wrong. Check with your accountant to be sure, but I do not believe that in the USA you could write of the value of the print at the price you would normally sell it for.

Dave

[Tigershark]

As my accountant has told me I can write off the costs of the print not the value of it so only what it costs me to print it and mileage of course

[WMS]

I am of the opinion that It depends on the tax status of the organization you are taking the photos for, You might not be able to take anything off. It would be best to read this;

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf

very carefully. Now from a practical viewpoint you can deduct anything until the IRS challenges it, and some things will get challenged more than others. IF you loose you are subject to Back tax, penalties and interest which will add up to far more than you gain with a questionable deduction.

Wayne
(So far I have won every IRS audit I have had, but I am very careful about what I choose to deduct.)

[WMS]

Hopefully I'll make some contacts and business prospects. As one of the "sponsors" my logo will be on the shirts and stuff.
Plus a percentage of print sales from the event will go to the charity as well. We'll see how this go's I suppose.

Have you given any thought to considering this an Advertising event rather than deducting the costs as a Charitable deduction? Your mileage would be deductible as a normal cost of doing business, just like mileage to a wedding you photograph, as would your costs of providing photographs photographs to the event. Disclosure I am a jeweler not a tax adviser.

Wayne