Monday, July 6, 2009

Can a business deduct charitable contribution of monthly subscription cost?

Let%26#039;s suppose a business has a product that companies can subscribe to for $30/month. Can the business take a deduction for donating a subscription to a non-profit organization? (I suppose a web-hosting company would be a great example of the type of situation I%26#039;m thinking about.)



It%26#039;s not a %26quot;service%26quot; in the sense that the cost is based on the number of hours worked -- yet it%26#039;s not quite a tangible product the non-profit could hold in its hands.



Can a business deduct charitable contribution of monthly subscription cost?





No.



Here is a more tanglible example. Suppose a store buys widgets for $5 each and sells them for $20 each. One day they donate 5 widgets to charity ($100 worth).



They would get a deduction of only $25.00. The cost of the 5 widgets. The fact that they would normally sell for $100 is irrelevant.



In the same way, if you donate a service, your deduction is the cost to produce that service. In most cases: $0.00.



Can a business deduct charitable contribution of monthly subscription cost?



The can only deduct the actual out of pocket costs related to the donation of the service. It most certainly IS a service in the example given.



Other Replys:Businesses can not deduct the value or selling price of donated in kind services. However, they still can deduct the costs of providing those in kind services as a regular cost of doing business.

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