go fund me

[Ombud]

Tax deductible charitable donation or not?

(A) not bc you are donating to a specific person
(B) yes bc it's through a website so ostensibly to an organization not an individual

[justme]

I don't believe the website itself or likely the person you donated to is 501c3 or whatever it is to be a charity.

[Ombud]

And how would the average person know when doing their TT?

[ArchietheDragon]

Feb 23, 2015 11:03:48 GMT -5 Ombud said:

And how would the average person know when doing their TT?

If the organization you are donating to is a 501c3, then it would be deductible.  

[justme]

Odds are ones that are aren't on go fund me.

Looks like if you search EO search and irs there's a database of organizations.

[ArchietheDragon]

This is a list

www.gofundme.com/charity-donations

[mroped]

Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm not sure I get this right:
go fund me- are Typicaly set up as to help an individual/family/ entity fallen on hard times.
From what I understand they are not set up as charities or non profit organizations which means that all you give to them is not tax deductible or whatever. It is simply your expense.

Am I missunderstanding?

[TheOtherMe]

The ones I have seen are as you describe.

I made a donation to a cause I believe in and a friend was raising money to send to doctor friends after being in Africa himself treating ebola patients.  Whoever set up the gofundme site knew the question of tax deductibility would come up as the page says in several places, this is not tax deductible.  

[msventoux]

Even if it's made to a qualified charitable organization I don't believe it's deductible if it's designated for the benefit of a specific individual or family. 

So if you're donating to a qualified organization on go fund me and not designating the donation for an individual-it's deductible.  Donating to an individual or a qualified organization and specifying that the donation is for a specific person- it's not deductible.


Per the IRS website:

Contributions to Individuals

You cannot deduct contributions to specific individuals, including the following.

Contributions to fraternal societies made for the purpose of paying medical or burial expenses of members.

Contributions to individuals who are needy or worthy. You cannot deduct these contributions even if you make them to a qualified organization for the benefit of a specific person. But you can deduct a contribution to a qualified organization that helps needy or worthy individuals if you do not indicate that your contribution is for a specific person.

Example. You can deduct contributions to a qualified organization for flood relief, hurricane relief, or other disaster relief. However, you cannot deduct contributions earmarked for relief of a particular individual or family.