[Noisebridge-discuss] 2010 taxes

John E neurofog at gmail.com
Thu Jan 13 16:54:14 UTC 2011


Should we assign value to "member shelves"? eg. $5/m suggested donation, so
that the other $35-$75 becomes tax deductible.
It has been apparent to me that there isn't 1:1 relationship between shelves
and being a paying member.

Regards,
John



On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 12:53 AM, Jared Dunne <jareddunne at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've heard it mentioned before that NB dues are not tax-deductible, so I
> decided to look into this more.  I think Jacob's accountant is on to
> something.
>
> I found this publication from the IRS regarding "Charitable Contributions":
> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf
>
> If you look on Page 4 under "Contributions You Can Deduct":
> ---Start of Excerpt--
> *Membership fees or dues.* You may be able
> to deduct membership fees or dues you pay to a
> qualified organization. However, you can deduct
> only the amount that is more than the value of
> the benefits you receive. You cannot deduct
> dues, fees, or assessments paid to country
> clubs and other social organizations. They are
> not qualified organizations.
> ---End of Excerpt--
>
> Noisebridge's 501(c)(3) status makes them a "qualified organization". So
> the question then hinges on quantifying the "value" of membership.  While
> noisebridge itself might bring a tremendous value to your life, I believe
> there is no montetary value associated with the benefits of being a proper
> member.  The only actual benefit of membership of which I know is the right
> to participate in the consensus process.  With members receiving no monetary
> benefit from their dues, they are able to deduct the entirety of their
> dues.
>
> Can anyone provide anything definitive that would contradict this?
>
> If you are still fearing the tax man, browse through that publication
> more.  The more I read it the more confident I became that NB dues and
> donations should be 100% deductible given its status.  Specifically I'd
> recommend reading the entire section titled "Contributions From Which You
> Benefit" which starts on Page 3 of the Publication.
>
> Jared-
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 9:59 PM, Jason Dusek <jason.dusek at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 05:36, Dr. Jesus <j at hug.gs> wrote:
> >> On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 9:27 PM, Jacob Appelbaum <jacob at appelbaum.net>
> wrote:
> >> > On 01/12/2011 09:01 PM, Dr. Jesus wrote:
> >> > > Who's deducting their membership dues from their taxes?
> >> > >  My accountant says as long as I'm not receiving any value
> >> > > from my membership then I can deduct the full amount, but
> >> > > I don't want to find out the hard way that there's a catch
> >> > > I didn't think of.
> >> >
> >> > I do not believe this to be true unless any membership fees
> >> > count.  Membership fees are not a donation.
> >>
> >> Deductibility seems to hinge on whether value is being
> >> obtained in exchange for the dues, not whether they are a
> >> donation.  As far as I can tell, my membership dues don't buy
> >> me anything I wouldn't get as a non member, so I'm not
> >> obtaining any real value and the dues should be deductible.
> >
> >  This is complex and we could have a very interesting
> >  discussion about it.
> >
> >  Recently, I donated to the San Francisco Ballet. I suddenly
> >  have the privilege of attending certain recitals (not
> >  performances) and may even extend this privilege to a friend.
> >  Is this value or not? It is certainly a privilege reserved for
> >  only a few people. Whereas, everything at Noisebridge is open
> >  to the public.
> >
> > --
> > Jason Dusek
> > Linux User #510144 | http://counter.li.org/
> > _______________________________________________
> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >
>
>
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