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Community Chorus dues tax deductable?Date: November 16, 2012 by Bruce Borton  Views: 1246
The community chorus I conduct has recently started charging
dues to its members (something it never did before in its 30-plus
years of existence). There have been a number of inquiries
concerning whether or not these dues could be deducted as
charitable deductions on their taxes. Since they are now
required of all singers, I am not sure whether they can be
considered "charitable". Ours is not a paid-professional
organization, but many of the members are music professionals of
some sort (music teachers, church musicians, etc.). Some of
them presently deduct these as "professional expense." I
don't know if Uncle Sam would like that one either, but that is
arguable since it seems to qualify as "educational" in their
profession, or in some cases, a professional activity for resume
purposes.
Any input to feed back to my board before I call the
lawyers?
Bruce Borton
on November 17, 2012 7:46am
Call a tax lawyer! My husband is a tax professional. John is right - the dues cannot be a charitable deduction. If the dues were called a charitable contribution, then they would really have to be voluntary and membership could not be contingent on this contribution. That would be tax fraud. As for being a professional expense, they would have to show at the minimum that this expense increases their ability to earn income from this activity.
on November 17, 2012 8:02am
I am an attorney. The answer is unambiguous. Because the singers are receiving something in exchange for their donation (the right to sing in the choir), dues are not deductible. Any donation in excess of that is deductible.
However, all taxpayers have different levels of aggressiveness in deciding what to deduct. If they want to deduct it - that is their choice. All I am saying is that if they are audited, the deduction will be disallowed.
David Spitko
Applauded by an audience of 2
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about. I suspect that required dues are NOT deductible as charitable, but
there might be a way around that by making them voluntary. For a
professional musician it probably IS deductible as a business expense, but
that would also be subject to interpretation.
All the best, --John