Can I deduct travel expenses I paid for a dependent to travel overseas for volunteer work?

[TomD8 · Accepted solution]

You can deduct expenses for your own volunteer work, but not for your dependent's volunteering.

IRS Publication 526 specifically forbids deducting "expenses you paid for someone else's charitable work."  It gives this example: "Your son does missionary work. You pay his expenses. You can't claim a deduction for your son's unreimbursed expenses related to his contribution of services."

See page 6 of this reference:  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf

[null241]

Thank you for the clarification.

[DeniseF1]

Yes, you can deduct out of pocket expenses for your volunteer work including travel expenses.

To report volunteer expenses in TurboTax:

• Click My Account (Top right of your screen).
• Select Tools.
• In the pop up window, select Topic Search.
• In the search bar, type in charitable contributions.

Highlight it and select GO, and follow the prompts

[null241]

Thank you.