Purchased home

[MJPedercini]

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?

[Opus 17]

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.

[MJPedercini]

Thank you Sir. We did it because it was the right thing to do, but didnt want to overlook any possible ded/credit.