Deductibility of out-of-pocket expenses as a volunteer director of a 501 3-C nonprofit

[WSHILBURN]

I am the director of a non-profit organization, and I donate my time. I traveled at my own expense to two conferences as a representative of the organization. Am I allowed to deduct my reasonable out-of-pocket expenses including airfare, hotel, conference registrations fees, etc.?

[Bsch4477]

You can’t deduct anything for your time but any out of pocket expenses you incur related to your volunteer service are charitable deductions. 

[Carl]

I am the director of a non-profit organization

As an addendum, you need to be *REALLY* careful here because of your position. As you know, a "qualified charitable organization" is either a 50% or a 30% organization. That means for a 50% organization only 50% of what you donate can be claimed as an itemized deduction on SCH A. Ditto for a 30% organization.

If you are paying your expenses with your personal money, that has a high potential to raise "audit me now!" flags with the IRS. For example, if you are paying for a plane ticket with your personal credit card and then claiming it as a donation, that's a definite flag raiser.

What you need to be doing to remain "under the radar" so-to-speak, is make your "donation" directly to the organization. Then let the organization use organization funds directly out of the organization's bank account, to purchase your tickets and pay any other qualified expenses on behalf of the organization.

Not doing it that way will not only raise flags with the IRS on your personal return, but it also puts the organization's tax exempt status at risk. This is because of your position as director of the non-profit organization. So all organization related expenses "need" to be paid by the organization directly.