Free Tax Tips

Question: Can I write-off the mileage for volunteering at my church?

I volunteer a lot of hours at the church that I attend. I read that you can write-off the mileage for volunteering at a non-profit and I was wondering if this was true. The tip I read suggested keeping a calendar and writing down the address of the location that you volunteered as a way of record keeping. Is there another way that would work better, yet still be acceptable by the IRS? Am I asking to be audited if I do this?!

Answer: Yes, if you itemize you can deduct out of pocket expenses for volunteering, including mileage - it's at a lower rate though than business miles, I believe it's 20 cents a mile for volunteer miles. Keeping a log by writing the number of miles on the calendar might be acceptable - technically you are supposed to keep a log of ALL of your miles and what they were for if you use a car for some deductible and some non-deductible purposes but the calendar log would probably work, even if you were audited. And unless you claim some really ridiculous number of miles, it won't trigger an audit.

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