You can deduct charitable donations while doing your taxes. But why is there no tax benefit for volunteering your time? Columnist davidlaz explains how this came to be, and how it could be changed:
In yet another example of how tax laws favor the rich, contributions of money and property to nonprofit organizations result in tax benefits for the giver. But if you volunteer your time and labor, you get bupkes.
Yet as the rich grow richer, many ordinary Americans who may lack the financial resources to fund worthy causes still offer time rather than money. “From a tax perspective, you get the same benefit staying on the couch as you do volunteering for charity,” observed Daniel Hemel, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School.
Anthony Burke, a spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service, said the tax agency doesn’t make the rules. “We administer the law as written,” he said. Considering these are part of regulations originating more than a century ago, it’s time Congress revisited the matter.
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