Donating points for charity

[lodgelady]

Hi all-
DH and I have decided to donate some points to make a ressie for the highest bidder at an auction to raise money for our new church building. We feel good about the idea of it, but we have no experience even with renting out points- so we are a little nervous about the mechanics.

Have any of you donated points? Did they fetch a good price? How did it go with working it out with the people who bought them? I would love to hear your experiences!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Just remember that they aren't tax deductible unless you *give* the points to the charity on a permanent basis -- not a one time thing like a rental. (If this is even an issue.)

 

[tjkraz]

Just remember that they aren't tax deductible unless you *give* the points to the charity on a permanent basis -- not a one time thing like a rental. (If this is even an issue.)

I thought I read that you could take a deduction but only if you donated your entire ownership for a year. In other words--own 200 points, donate 200 points.

Not true?

 

[lodgelady]

That is interesing....why wouldn't the value of the gift be deductable? It does cost us something. I will be sure to ask our tax person. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Dean]

I thought I read that you could take a deduction but only if you donated your entire ownership for a year. In other words--own 200 points, donate 200 points.

Not true?

No, it's only if you give them permanently for ever.

 

[Cruelladeville]

How does that make sense? Companies can give a week's vacation as a gift that's tax deductible, so why couldn't we? It sounds like someone doesn't understand how DVC works, maybe they thought it was not an actual gift, or something.

 

[Dean]

How does that make sense? Companies can give a week's vacation as a gift that's tax deductible, so why couldn't we? It sounds like someone doesn't understand how DVC works, maybe they thought it was not an actual gift, or something.

The IRS has specific examples related to timeshares and the examples says something like you must donate the ownership and not the usage for a year to be tax deductible. In the case of a company, they're actually deducting the cash cost and not the vacation itself. If they owned DVC for the sole purpose of perks for business contacts and not personal use, they could deduct some in some situations. And there might be situations where you could do so. It would essentially come under the second home area and you'd have to use it at least 14 days per year to even think about qualifying.

 

[DVCforMe]

There was a post about a month ago from a member (Mike Skulski) I think he goes by raddoc, reguarding donating points to a charity auction. His tax attorney had stated that the points were deductable at the value that Disney would have charged for cash use of the room.

 

[DVCforMe]

Me again. I don't know how to do the link thingy, but if you go to the DVC Rent/Trade board and enter "charity auction" in the search this forum spot you will get the postings from Mike Skulske ("raddoc") reguarding the charity donation of points. Good luck!
Charlotte

 

[lodgelady]

Thanks so much Charlotte!

 

[Dean]

Another frequent question is, "should I donate the use of my week to a charity?" That translates to "I can’t use my week and I’m about to lose it, is there a tax benefit by donating it to charity?"

The answer is "NO". IRS regulations won’t allow a charitable deduction for the gift of a right to use property.

This is taken from TUG. The IRS has a specific question on one of their FAQ about this exact issue and the answer is the same as above, I'll try to look for it when I have the chance.