Sunday, August 23, 2009

Free Entertainment That Pays

This past weekend, I participated in a local “Beautification Day” event to benefit area schools. My school was pretty close by, so an easy jaunt for me. One of the things that one can do when volunteering for a non-profit organization, all the while keeping one’s self occupied and exercised, is to write off certain expenses.

While I would recommend consulting the IRS first, transportation expenses, for example, can usually be written off from your income taxes. A good rule to remember though is to keep your receipts. While most volunteering won’t be terribly far from one’s house, and say the mileage incurred won’t be substantial, it’s a good idea to have documentation to show during tax day. Keep food receipts, too, but allowances for these are more restrictive. Also, it may be the case that if you don’t itemize your taxes, the volunteer work write off may be a moot point.



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