Are Travel Expenses for Charity Tax Deductible?

If you’ve volunteered over the past year, you might be wondering if you can deduct travel expenses for charity work. 

The answer: it depends on the circumstances.  

In some cases, you can deduct out-of-pocket travel expenses related to volunteering. But before you start adding up all the miles from your journey, it’s important to understand which expenses actually qualify. .  

This article breaks down how to determine whether you volunteered for a qualified charity, which expenses are deductible (and which aren’t), and how to claim the deduction on your taxes.

Determine if you volunteered for a qualified charity

First, you’ll need to figure out if the organization you volunteered for meets Internal Revenue Service (IRS) standards. No matter what you give—be it time or money—the IRS only lets you deduct expenses or contributions in support of a qualified (tax-exempt) organization.  The good news is that most public organizations (such as churches and governments) and nonprofit private charities are qualified, but it’s up to you to find out for sure. You can check an organization’s status using the IRS’s Tax-Exempt Organization Search tool.

What travel expenses for charity are deductible?

As a volunteer, you can claim travel expenses if:  

• You had substantial duties each day of your trip. An example would be spending all day planting trees as part of a nonprofit reforestation effort. 
• The trip wasn’t primarily for personal enjoyment. The travel for the trip has no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation. You can’t turn one day of volunteering into a week-long vacation and expect to deduct your airfare and lodging. 
• Your costs are necessary. Food, shelter, and transportation meet the criteria. 
• You didn’t receive a per diem or reimbursement. You can’t double dip by taking a daily expense allowance from the charity and claiming the same expenses as a tax deduction. 

Monika Krulic, EA, shares this advice: “Volunteering for charity can be quite rewarding—for your tax return as well as for yourself! Remember, only deduct expenses for travel that was primarily to conduct charitable activities where you had substantial duties and were not reimbursed.”

Deductible travel expenses

Here’s what you may be able to deduct: 

• Air, train, and bus transportation fares 
• Out-of-pocket expenses for your car, unless you use the standard mileage rate (see below) 
• Taxi/rideshare fares or other costs of transportation between the airport or station and your hotel 
• Lodging costs 
• The cost of meals 

When using your own car for travel, you can do one of two things: 

• You may deduct the actual cost of gas used to get to and from the volunteer site, or 
• You can deduct the IRS standard rate of 14 cents per mile. Unlike using your personal car for business, you cannot deduct expenses such as insurance, maintenance, or depreciation. 

In line with the travel scenarios we covered earlier, the IRS states that deductible expenses must be: 

• Unreimbursed 
• Directly connected with the services you provided 
• Costs you incurred only because of the services you gave 
• Not personal, living, or family expenses 

Example: Suppose you volunteered for a three-day charity event put on by a qualified organization and worked consistently on meaningful tasks throughout the event. 

During your travels, you spent $400 on a roundtrip plane ticket, $50 on taxi fare getting to and from your hotel, $300 for a two-night stay at the hotel, and $150 on meals. The organization you worked for didn’t give you a daily allowance, and you weren’t reimbursed for your expenses later. In this scenario, you could deduct the $900 in expenses.

Nondeductible travel expenses

You can’t deduct the value of:  

• The services you provided 
• The time you spent 
• Any wages you lost while volunteering 

You also can’t deduct travel expenses for recreation, vacation, or entertainment. Examples of these nondeductible expenses include (but aren’t limited to): 

• Theme park passes 
• Concert tickets 
• Hotel spa treatments 

However, you can still deduct the IRS-approved expenses for your trip if you attended a nonwork event on a day you performed extensive and significant work. For instance, if you planted trees all day and then went to a concert that evening, you can still deduct your meals, lodging, and work-related transportation. You can’t deduct the cost of the concert tickets, transportation to and from the event, or concessions or souvenirs you buy at the show.

Keeping track of charity travel expenses

It pays to track your charitable contributions, so keep detailed records regarding all expenses related to the trip, including: 

• Receipts for air, train, bus, or cab/rideshare fare 
• Receipts for meals and lodging 
• A log of the miles driven 
• Receipts for tolls or parking 
• Documentation for any other costs related to your time volunteering 

If the IRS requests proof of your expenses, having it ready can help process your return faster.

How to deduct charity travel expenses at tax time

Once you gather your documentation, tally up your charitable giving expenses. Then, complete lines 11 through 14 of Schedule A on IRS Form 1040. Sound complicated? Don’t worry—TurboTax guides you through every step so you don’t have to navigate tax forms on your own. Please note: You must itemize your deductions to write off your charity travel expenses.

Ready to file?

You may be able to deduct travel expenses for charity work if you performed significant and extensive duties for a qualified organization during your trip. Be sure to verify the organization’s status, understand which expenses are deductible, and track your costs.  Feeling overwhelmed and want to streamline the tax filing process? TurboTax makes it easy for volunteers and those involved in nonprofit work to claim the deductions they deserve. Whether you do your taxes yourself or get help from a professional, we have your back with expert guidance. Get started today!