Purchased home

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
April 21, 2020
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We purchased a home last year for 76k plus some renovations and we allow an elderly woman to live there rent free as a charitable gesture to her as she is widowed and on a low fixed income. Is there any way to claim any of this as a charitable deduction?

Credit

Opus 17

Level 15

Assistance to individual people, even if they are needy, is never deductible.

For example, if you had offered your home to a church to use for emergency housing, and the church made the decision on who would live there, then you might be able to deduct some of your out-of-pocket costs as a donation to the church. Even then, it is complicated because you cannot deduct use of property that you own. You could possibly deduct your out-of-pocket costs for utilities, but you would not be able to deduct the mortgage or property taxes as a charitable contribution.

However, if you are the person making the decision of who to offer the home to, you can never take a charitable deduction for that even if the person is needy.