- quote -

Thanks for the 5 or 6 interesting responses to this
question.

And no, it's not an assignment for a tax law course, it's a
factual situation, even if the query was only semi-serious.

Hadn't thought about the "acceptance by donee" aspect.
Maybe I should ask my local Y to put a magazine rack on the
gym wall with a sign that says "Donate Magazines Here".
Another Y in the area has such, though without the sign.

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"AES/newspost" <siegman[at]stanford.edu> wrote:

- quote -

IRS Regs require a receipt for property donations in any
amount with limited exception. Even beyond that, you
haven't made a donation until the donee has accepted it as
such. You have the legal right to return to the YMCA and
claim any left behind property, whether magazine or Rolex
watch. So if you have dated receipts from the Y, then you
can establish value at some discount from newsstand price if
current issue. Once it becomes a back issue, IRS can argue
its value is that of recyclable trash, depending upon the
specific magazine. It's hard to compete with a public
library or publishers who post articles from back issues on
web sites.

Fred F.

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AES/newspost <siegman[at]stanford.edu> wrote:

- quote -

I doubt it. When you contribute property to charity, you
can deduct the Fair Market Value of the property. That's
the amount you could get if you resold the property on the
open market. And in general, used books and magazines sell
for significantly less than their original purchase prices,
unless they're collectibles (e.g. first editions, books
signed by the author, etc.).

Furthermore, I doubt that just leaving something laying
around would be considered "donating" it to the
organization. It's more like litter. If you dropped your
wallet in the locker room, would you really try to take a
deduction for the cash that was in it?

Maybe if the gym has a little library of books and magazines
for patrons to use, and you actively handed your magazine to
the person who organizes it, you might be able to consider
it a donation.

--
Barry Margolin, barmar[at]alum.mit.edu
Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA

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AES/newspost <siegman[at]stanford.edu> wrote:

- quote -

The charitible organization would need to accept the
charitible gift. In other words, you can't give a gift if
the other party does not accept it.

And then there's the matter of proof. Although you have not
reached the $250 requirement for a receipt, you have no
proof without receipts.

The fair market value of a used magazine isn't much, and
claiming it was unread and therefore brand new is difficult
to prove for a magazine. You might have been a careful
reader.

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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AES/newspost wrote:

- quote -

I can see you've done your homework on this issue. You're
right on the money. (Money; my favorite hobby magazine)

just be sure to keep receipts for the magazines.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA in LA

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- quote -

I trust this is a question for a tax law course?

I agree with your logic, and I would even argue that the FMV
of the magazine if still a current issue is still its
current price, undiminished by having been read once--unless
you left sticky finger prints inside Playboy.

HOWEVER, the technical flaw in all this might be that to
merely leave a gift in the lobby of a 501c3 that is not
"accepted" in some form by the 501c3 does not constitute a
gift.

Now if the 501c3 has a box for donations you might have a
different point.

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I spend an hour a day on a stationary bike at the Y. One
good solid magazine (Harpers, Atlantic, The Economist,
Playboy^h^h^h^h^h^h) is just enough to make the hour not too
unpleasant.

If I then leave my magazine behind on the coffee table in
the gym for others to do likewise, that's a deductible
donation to the Y of the amount I paid for the magazine,
right?

But I've already read the magazine, you say, so that the
value of my donation is considerably reduced? OK, how about
I donate a particular magazine, brand new and unread, when
I'm in on day N, then read it when I come in on day N+1 or
N+2? (knowing when I make the donation that another
exerciser may snitch it and take it home before then, as
does sometimes happen)

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