Writing for free is not tax deductible

Recently I brought down my auto insurance premium significantly and wanted to find  a media outlet that was a good fit for the topic and that would pay me for writing about it. In the course of hunting around for sites of that sort and came across one that said it does want guest bloggers. But the pay is so low, it recommends you can consider the writing a donation. Here's the exact wording:

• Small fee of $20 per post.  If you normally charge more, ask your accountant if the rest of your fee is considered a donation. We'll be happy to send you our 501c3 letter.  Please also let us know if you would just like to donate the full amount, and not receive payment.

This is not just laughable but dangerous. In my eyes, the site lost all credibility if the editors actually believe what they're saying or are low enough to deliberately lure people into doing work for free or for far less than they deserve because they can gain a tax advantage.

I do volunteer work regularly. Sometimes it's writing, sometimes it's packing up food for people in the neighborhood, and sometimes it's covering phones as a dispatcher for a local roadside assistance service. It's voluntary work that I do to help, but it is not tax deductible. I looked this up once and discovered that in the views of the government, the only deductible expense associated with volunteer work would be out-of-pocket expenses -- not the value you place on your time. See https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf That is explicitly stated as item #4 on "Contributions You Can't Deduct."

So if anyone tries to sell you on donating your time with the compensation of a tax deduction, be aware that the IRS will not allow it. It could possibly work for those who sell products -- say food for an event or possibly even physical books, but not for the articles you compose for a site.  

Related posts: http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2016/02/save-me-from-resume-advice.html