Can you deduct diving expenses if member of Project AWARE???

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ewaiea

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I am curious about becoming a member of Project AWARE and doing data collection for coral reef monitoring in Hawaii. If a person volunteers their time doing this are they able to deduct their diving expenses off of their income taxes at the end of the year?

Any input on this would be much appreciated.....
 
My understanding is:

While volunteers may not deduct the value of their volunteer time or services, they may deduct un-reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses directly related to their volunteer service if they itemize deductions. Any deduction for a single event that is valued at $250 or more must be supported by appropriate receipts as well as an explicit letter from the organization confirming the claim and stating that the volunteer did not receive any goods or services in return for the volunteer effort.

Volunteer services or other charitable donations must have been contributed to what the Internal Revenue Service terms a "qualifying organization." This includes government agencies and organizations operated only for charitable, religious, educational, scientific or literary purposes.
 
Your mileage to and from is another deduction (must keep a log of the mileage), not sure of the exact rate but it is much less than normal business rates, something like 14 cents a mile IIRC.
 
An accountant or tax attorney with specific knowledge of charitable deductions would be your best bet for accurate information.

My instinct is, having the words "scuba dive" next to a deduction would raise a big red flag to the IRS. But, again, tax pros would have a much better idea.

Jeff
 
all tax deductible donations must include the agencies TAX ID number. They give it to you when making a donation. So to me, I would think they will give you paperwork IF what you are doing has any tax deduction capabilities. I would ask them, Project Aware, directly.
I know there are scuba trips offered by some research agencies which say they are tax deductible, I have checked into one of them. It was a liveaboard trip where you were required to do a certain number of dives each day and photograph for them certain fish or work with the data collection info topside and enter it into their database. Sounded like fun to me. The cost of the liveaboard only was deductible, cost of airfare and other expenses were not.
 
Take your chances on tax deductibility. We did a week on a live-aboard in Cuba, which we deemed to be permissable because we were conducting an official REEF fish count, an academic mission. Don't ask, don't tell.
 
Hell, half the folks in the Obama administration are tax cheats, some owing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'd deduct it and not worry to much about it. If audited, just tell them you checked with Geithner and he said it was A-O-K!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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