I believe that certain volunteer opportunities should be tax deductible. There are a couple of caveats to this, however. Time must be carefully monitored and the organization must be a verified charity.

Volunteer time should be calculated the same way that wage-earning time is, either with a time sheet or card. This will help cut down on false deductions. The next question is how to judge the value of the time given. A $10,000 check takes just as much time to write as a $5 check, but their values are very different. Shouldn't volunteer time be estimated by the value produced, or the expertise needed? This is another area that could be riddled with fraud if not regulated closely.

The amount of time that should be tax deductible would need regulating as well. Without a way to govern this aspect, we would see people volunteering their entire tax bill away, creating an additional burden to others. Studies would need to be done to discover the point at which fair compensation becomes false compensation.

Another aspect of tax deductible volunteer time is the organization in question. Would those organizations be the same ones that accept tax deductible cash or merchandise donations? Would donating time to a local church constitute a blurring of the lines between the separation of church and state? While I believe that volunteer time should be tax deductible, the way to go about it leaves some questions to be answered.

Learn more about this author, Mark Murphy.
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