Charitable contributions of the use of your timeshare, reminder

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

Seems to be that time of year for charity auctions, I donate a lot of weeks to various concerns, but as a notice and/or reminder:

IRS pub 526 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf
pg8

Partial Interest in Property
Generally, you cannot deduct a charitable con-
tribution of less than your entire interest in property.

Example 2. Mandy White owns a vacation
home at the beach that she sometimes rents to
others. For a fund-raising auction at her church,
she donated the right to use the vacation home
for 1 week. At the auction, the church received
and accepted a bid from Lauren Green equal to
the fair rental value of the home for 1 week.
Mandy cannot claim a deduction because of the
partial interest rule. Lauren cannot claim a de-
duction either, because she received a benefit
equal to the amount of her payment. See Contri-
butions From Which You Benefit, earlier.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

So depressing.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

So depressing.

Frustrating though it be, the general requirement prohibiting deductions for the use of property prevents abuses.

Switch the context a bit. Rental rates on equipment from a local tool rental store typically recover the cost of the equipment in about four to six rentals. So, for example, I can pay for a pressure washer over the course of a few rentals if I have some large projects.

Now that local rental store is the fair rental value for the pressure washer. So, if I were able to take a deduction for use of the pressure washer, I could volunteer to do several pressure washing jobs for charitable organization - churches, senior centers, shelters, etc., and over three or four donation projects I would have deductions equal to the cost of the pressure. After about ten projects those donations would reduce my tax bill sufficiently to pay for the pressure washer. IOW - I would have a free pressure washer paid for by the taxpayers of the US.

[Pit Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pit]

Entire interest in property

The example in the OP text refers to a donation of one week from a whole ownership interest.

By comparison, someone donating a timeshare week may be donating their "entire interest" in the property, if one week is all they own. The implication being the donation is deductable. Thoughts?

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

The example in the OP text refers to a donation of one week from a whole ownership interest.

By comparison, someone donating a timeshare week may be donating their "entire interest" in the property, if one week is all they own. The implication being the donation is deductable. Thoughts?

I'm not sure I understand your post.

The key issue for tax deductibility is the issue of ownership. For a deduction to be claimed there must be tangible ownership of a hard asset, and the ownership of that asset must be transferred to the charitable organization.

++++++

I suspect that the question you are asking is "suppose the only thing a person 'owns' is the right to use a week one time at a resort". Maybe they bought a right to use someone's week on a one-time basis. Then, since all they own is that one week of usage, are they not donating their entire ownership if they donate that week to a charity?

And I'm also dead certain the answer is that there is no deduction because there is no transfer in title to anything tangible. All that is being transferred is the right to use a tangible asset, not the asset itself.

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

The example in the OP text refers to a donation of one week from a whole ownership interest.

By comparison, someone donating a timeshare week may be donating their "entire interest" in the property, if one week is all they own. The implication being the donation is deductable. Thoughts?

Thoughts? You're wrong. The example from the IRS pub does talk about a whole ownership but it's the ownership transfer that warrants a deduction, not the right to use.

[Pit Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pit]

Thoughts? You're wrong. The example from the IRS pub does talk about a whole ownership but it's the ownership transfer that warrants a deduction, not the right to use.

Right you are. The publication states it clearly in the following text.

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 is not deductible.

On the other hand, if one rents their timeshare and donates the cash proceeds, that donation is deductable. So, maybe that's a "better" way to donate the usage.

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

Right you are. The publication states it clearly in the following text.
On the other hand, if one rents their timeshare and donates the cash proceeds, that donation is deductable. So, maybe that's a "better" way to donate the usage.

That is the way, as always cash is king.