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Sorry to bother you, but I'm curious if there are any CPAs around FR. I came across an interesting tidbit in a news article about coupons and couponing.

The woman featured in the story uses coupons to buy food items to stuff in weekend backpacks for needy children -- and the woman who taught her various methods of doing this, claims that at the end of the year, one can count as CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS the retail price of the food purchased -- as opposed to the actual amount of money she paid for the food she donated to charity.

Does this sound inaccurate to anyone else?

How much would she have to contribute this year to make it worth her white to itemize charitable contributions?

Anybody have any comments?

THANKS.

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COUPON CUTTING FOR CHARITY

http://www.localwireless.com/wap/news/text.jsp?carrier=google&sid=120&nid=6473047&cid=155&scid=-1&title=Local%20News&ith=2

EXCERPT

"....Anthony says after taking a class about the ins and outs of coupon cutting, she's now saving enough money to be able to donate some of her "extra" food to charity.

She has since been able to adopt two children through the KidsAid Weekend Backpack Program, which provides backpacks full of food for needy children to take home on weekends, when they otherwise wouldn't get free and reduced meals from school.

And Anthony's couponing teacher, Holly Settle, says you can also write-off your charitable couponing donations at the face value of what the store charges for the item, not what you paid with a coupon, and says by the end of the year, 'I'm able to save thousands of dollars just by donating to organizations.'"

I’m not a CPA, but I am a tax attorney. I typically handle tax settlements, and don’t prepare returns very often, so the following is an educated guess, not an expert opinion.

There is an argument to be made that donated goods are deductible based on their value, and not the price paid at retail. However, my guess is that the deductions wouldn’t survive an audit if the IRS decided to go to the mat on it. I doubt they would go to the mat on it ... but they could, and if they ask her to fully justify the deduction, she may not be able to to their satisfaction.

I think she’d need to be able to deduct above the standard deduction (she’d need to look up her standard deduction) to make itemizing worthwhile.

SnakeDoc

From http://www.irs.gov

You cannot take a deduction for clothing or household items you donate unless the clothing or household items are in good used condition or better.

Exception. You can take a deduction for a contribution of an item of clothing or a household item that is not in good used condition or better if you deduct more than $500 for it and include a qualified appraisal of it with your return.

Household items. Household items include:
* Furniture and furnishings,
* Electronics,
* Appliances,
* Linens, and
* Other similar items.

Household items do not include:
* Food,
* Paintings, antiques, and other objects of art,
* Jewelry and gems, and
* Collections.

Plus something on donating food:
Food Inventory Special rules apply to certain donations of food inventory to a qualified organization. These rules apply if all the following conditions are met.

1. You made a contribution of apparently wholesome food from your trade or business. Apparently wholesome food is food intended for human consumption that meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations even though the food may not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus, or other conditions.
2. The food is to be used only for the care of the ill, the needy, or infants.
3. The use of the food is related to the organization's exempt purpose or function.
4. The organization does not transfer the food for money, other property, or services.
5. You receive a written statement from the organization stating it will comply with requirements (2), (3), and (4).
6. The organization is not a private nonoperating foundation.
7. The food satisfies any applicable requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and regulations on the date of transfer and for the previous 180 days.

If all the conditions above are met, use the following worksheet to figure your deduction.

Looks like she shouldn't be deducting this at all, coupons or no.