Guest house donation to 501c3

[Tracy Lee]

Client has a guest home 'on the beach' which he donates weekend stays to be auctioned off for a school booster club.  It would appear that they are a 501c3, and he does have donation slips from them with a value of $500.00 a night.  He has donation slips for $4400.00.  Can these be deducted as a cash or item donation?

[Lee B]

IRS Pub 526

 

"Partial Interest in Property

Generally, you can't deduct a charitable contribution of less than your entire interest in property.

Right to use property.

 

A contribution of the right to use property is a contribution of less than your entire interest in that property and isn't deductible.

Example 1.

You own a 10-story office building and donate rent-free use of the top floor to a qualified organization. Because you still own the building, you have contributed a partial interest in the property and can't take a deduction for the contribution.

Example 2.

You own a vacation home at the beach and sometimes rent it to others. For a fundraising auction at church, you donated the right to use the vacation home for 1 week. At the auction, the church received and accepted a bid equal to the fair rental value of the home for 1 week. You can't claim a deduction because of the partial interest rule. The auction winner can't claim a deduction either, because of the received benefit equal to the amount of the auction winner’s payment."

[Sara EA]

No.   This is a donation of a partial interest in property.  See Pub 526.

[Abby Normal]

The taxpayer had no cash outlay, other than a cleaning, which should be deductible, and they lost no asset value, so there's no economic basis for a deduction.