- Volunteers may deduct their out-of-pocket costs incurred while volunteering. Deductible expenses include uniform costs, necessary transportation and travel expenses and the costs of meals if they are required to travel overnight. Taxpayers who are required to travel while volunteering can deduct their own qualified expenses but may not deduct the costs of meals and lodging for their dependents and spouses. In addition to deducting transportation and mileage expenses, the IRS allows volunteers to deduct supply costs, food or any other out-of-pocket expenses incurred while holding charitable functions or fundraising events. Supply costs may include tools, equipment and medical supplies necessary to perform volunteer services.
- Taxpayers can deduct their mileage expenses incurred while performing volunteer services to tax-exempt charities. The IRS allows volunteers to deduct their travel and mileage expenses if they were required to travel as long as they did not travel for purely personal or recreational reasons. In Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, the IRS provides an example of a scout leader who is required to attend an overnight scout camping trip. As long as he has more than nominal volunteer responsibilities, he can deduct the costs of his trip, even though he obtains personal pleasure from his volunteering activities.
- The IRS allows volunteers to deduct travel costs incurred while attending charitable conventions, including religious conventions. However, taxpayers cannot deduct their charity events unless they attended them as volunteers and not as members of the charitable organizations. For example, a taxpayer who attends her church's national religious convention as a parishioner cannot deduct her travel expenses as a charitable deduction. Volunteers cannot deduct their personal living expenses, including meals eaten while volunteering, unless they are required to travel overnight. The IRS does not allow volunteers to deduct the value of their lost income or value of their services.
- To deduct their unreimbursed travel costs and mileage, volunteers must use Schedule A of IRS Form 1040, Itemized Deductions. They must enter their mileage costs on line 16 by using the standard mileage rates or they may use their actual out-of-pocket mileage costs. As of 2010, the standard mileage rate remained at 14 cents per mile. Volunteers can deduct their actual unreimbursed travel expenses consisting of out-of-pocket costs. Furthermore, if they use their personal vehicles for volunteering, they may deduct mileage for traveling to perform their volunteer activities, as long as they perform their activities away from home.
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