Posted by Jeff T. at jtrexler.law.smu.edu on October 19, 1999 at 18:30:11:
In Reply to: Not being a tax law officianado (sp?) posted by Kim on October 19, 1999 at 11:39:33:
>Knew I should've went to law school.
Why? Seems to me you did just fine without it! You hit on of
the major policy reasons why such transactions
typically are not deductible.
PHlooG noted another reason above--even if
we assume that attendees were paying the charity directly
for the privilege of attending (and it is!), getting
something of value in return for one's contribution--a
quid pro quo exchange--raises real issues as to deductibility,
especially when a payment takes the form
of admission. The IRS presumes that such a payment is NOT a gift,
unless the taxpayer can prove that the portion claimed
as a gift is in excess of "the full fair market value of
the admission and other benefits or privileges must be
taken into account." [Revenue Ruling 67-246, 1967-2 C.B. 104; for
information on when a charity is merely offering "certain small
items or other benefits of token value, see Revenue Procedure
90-12, 1990-1 C.B. 471]
So, sorry, Jean--it was a good question, though, not greedy
at all if you ask me. After all, why else are deductions there
but for people to try to take them?
(Remember, tho, just for good measure, that making
legal decisions based on postings from strangers
on a message board is often about as smart as
trolling for a hook-up in a chat room. I mean, I might say a
law professor, but how are you to know that I telling
the truth, right? That's why I gave you the reference for your own review. For more info,
you could check out http://www.irs.gov/forms_pubs/pubs.html
for the IRS publication on charitable contributions.)