deducting charitable cell phone bills?

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Subject Author Date deducting charitable cell phone bills? Tim 06-17-2006  Re: deducting charitable cell phone bills? D. Stussy 06-18-2006  Re: deducting charitable cell phone bills? David Woods 06-18-2006  Re: deducting charitable cell phone bills? Tim 06-20-2006
Posted by Tim on June 17, 2006, 9:05 pm Please log in for more thread options I just got a $175 cell phone bill. It would have been $75 if my wife hadn't used it extensively as part of her volunteer work as VP of a charity. Can the $100 be deducted? How exactly? I have read her the riot act; there is simply no reason for a 45 minute cell phone when the land line is available. Hopefully there will be no more $175 bills. << ======================================================= >> << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >> << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >> << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >> << ======================================================= >> Posted by D. Stussy on June 18, 2006, 11:29 pm Please log in for more thread options Tim wrote: > I just got a $175 cell phone bill. It would have been $75 > if my wife hadn't used it extensively as part of her > volunteer work as VP of a charity. > > Can the $100 be deducted? How exactly? > > I have read her the riot act; there is simply no reason for > a 45 minute cell phone when the land line is available. > Hopefully there will be no more $175 bills. It goes on Schedule A on the first line for contributions, just as if you gave cash. With that amount of expense in a single month, watch out for the acknowledgement substantiation requirement of IRC Section 170(f)(8). The Tax Court in 2003 extended this to "out of pocket" expenditures for the benefit of a charitable organization and did NOT treat them as separate but aggregrated the entire year's spread together in determining the $250.00 threshold that triggers the acknowledgement. << ======================================================= >> << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >> << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >> << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >> << ======================================================= >> Posted by David Woods on June 18, 2006, 11:48 pm Please log in for more thread options > I just got a $175 cell phone bill. It would have been $75 > if my wife hadn't used it extensively as part of her > volunteer work as VP of a charity. > > Can the $100 be deducted? How exactly? > > I have read her the riot act; there is simply no reason for > a 45 minute cell phone when the land line is available. > Hopefully there will be no more $175 bills. It would be a deductible out of pocket cost. I would question though your plan where a 45 minute call costs you $100. -- David M. Woods, EA, ChFC, CLU Woods Financial Services Norwood, MA 02062 www.woods-financial.com << ======================================================= >> << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >> << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >> << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >> << ======================================================= >> Posted by Tim on June 20, 2006, 2:12 am Please log in for more thread options >> I just got a $175 cell phone bill. It would have been $75 >> if my wife hadn't used it extensively as part of her >> volunteer work as VP of a charity. >> >> Can the $100 be deducted? How exactly? >> >> I have read her the riot act; there is simply no reason for >> a 45 minute cell phone when the land line is available. >> Hopefully there will be no more $175 bills. > It would be a deductible out of pocket cost. I would > question though your plan where a 45 minute call costs you > $100. No, the 45 minute call only cost $20. It was the other 50 5 minute calls that did it. I can kinda see why she would not want to tell someone calling her that she will call him back on a land line for a 5 minute call; but for a 45 minute call?! That's all. << ======================================================= >> << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >> << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >> << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >> << ======================================================= >> Similar Threads Posted Pay medical bills now? December 27, 2008, 5:05 pm Real Estate Tax Bills Question, Please February 19, 2010, 9:54 am Phone Tax Refund February 5, 2007, 1:50 am Federal Phone tax refund December 30, 2006, 2:48 pm How claim phone tax credit? January 30, 2007, 11:31 am The phone company's categories July 28, 2009, 7:05 pm Phone/internet expense deducibility question December 20, 2006, 1:26 am Daytime phone number on 1040 required? January 4, 2008, 5:35 pm Consulting assistance on medical bills as a medical deduction? 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