Is volunteer time deductible?

Here’s the thing. Volunteer time is not deductible to the volunteer. *sad trombone sound*

Mileage and out of pocket costs can be. Here’s a link you can provide to the volunteer for their tax guidance.

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/filing/adjustments-and-deductions/volunteer-work-tax-deductions/ and here is one for business owners

This is very important though – We, the nonprofit cannot give the donor / volunteer tax advice. We can provide info (ie: the online resource) and let them know that, generally, volunteer time itself isn’t deductible, but that they should ask their tax preparer directly.

Since we can’t give them a tax deductible receipt, what can you give them? It is always a good idea to thank and recognize volunteers with a hand written thank you note, sharing with them what their work helped accomplish, recognizing them in your newsletter, etc.

But – the flip side of this – WE, the nonprofit, can claim it as a donation of in-kind service on OUR books. So you should be recording all volunteer hours that you can. For more on that, see the article about Valuing Volunteer Time.