Writing off a giveaway

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
August 2, 2023
1 reply
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Hi there,

I own a children's consignment store and I am wanting to do a giveaway of a paddle board. Can this be a write off? And if yes, how do I go about claiming it on my taxes?

Thank you!

Opus 17

Level 15

There are no tax deductions for giving away inventory. You deduct the cost of acquiring the inventory in the usual way. Because you don't sell the item, you have less sales income, so you pay less tax. That's your tax "deduction".

Alternatively, you are allowed to report the item as a tax deductible donation, but only if you also report the full value in your taxable sales income, as if you had sold it. However, if you are a schedule C "disregarded entity", you report business income on schedule C and pay income tax and self-employment tax, and you deduct charitable donations as itemized deductions on schedule A, which have some limitations. Meaning the tax benefit of the donation will be less than the extra tax you pay on the income you must report. So it's not really worth doing this way although it is technically allowed.