My 501c3 production company is doing a shoot on October 11th in Louisville, KY. We're looking for a videographer in the area who owns another XH-A1.

The shoot is for a nonprofit public awareness campaign and the talent we're shooting is an actress who's on the cast of Grey's Anatomy. Since this is a nonprofit production, you will be able to deduct 100% of your hours donated to the project from your taxes.

Please send me a private message if you may be able to help out and include a link to something you've shot with your xh-a1. Everyone, including our celebrity talent, have donated their time since it's a tax write-off.


Thanks,
Alex Plank

You have mail

A videographer's time is not a tax deductible business expense.
Only things like the cost of tape you supplied are.

David:

You are quite correct, no ones labor cost is tax deductable. That is the nature of volunteering/donating time versus bartering.

A charitable contribution is defined as the donation of money, goods or services to a qualified charitable organization. If you get anything in return, it must be less than the value of what you gave; you can deduct the difference. Donations of time or labor aren't deductible, but expenses incurred doing so (for example, mileage) can be deducted.

Receipts

No receipt is needed for contributions under $250. This applies to any kind of contribution, cash, property, etc. No receipt is needed for separate contributions to the same charity, as long as each one is under $250. You'll need a receipt for any single donation over $250, or if you donate property worth $250 or more.

The receipt must include:

1). Name of the organization

2). Amount of cash contribution

3). If a non-cash contribution, description (but not value)

4). Statement that no goods or services were provided in return, if that is the case

5). If goods or services were provided in return, description and good faith estimate of their value

6). If the organization provided entirely religious benefits in return, a statement that this was the case

The charity must provide you with a written receipt if you get any goods or services in return for your donation of $75 or more. This is called a quid pro quo contribution (example: you give $100 for a concert ticket valued at $50). Even though the deductible amount is $50, they must give you a receipt because the total is over $75.

The receipt isn't sent in with your taxes but must be available if requested by the IRS. You must file Form 1040 and itemize deductions on Schedule A to deduct charitable contributions on your taxes.

David and Jeff:

Thank you for bringing this up. I tried to edit my original message to remove the incorrect statement about being able to deduct the donation time but cannot do so due to the amount of time that has passed since it was posted.

To save anyone else some time googling, I found a couple sites on the internet that confirmed David and Jeff's statements regarding volunteer time. Here are some pages that clearly state that hours donated to a nonprofit cannot be deducted from tax:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/tips/20010402a.asp
http://www.sfcasa.org/articles/rewards_in_tax_law.htm
http://us.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=113&id=2c6607c5-61c9-4b42-9edd-2c4fa28f6fd4