Rick wrote:

- quote -

Yes it would lead to a deduction, but the problem is that
your basis as an employee is zero. To overcome that, you'd
have to show that it's not 1) a deminimus fringe benefit of
your employment, and 2) that some event occurred that gives
you a non-zero basis.

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"Bernard S" <berniesa[at]pacifier.com> writes:

- quote -

Page 8 of the 2003 edition of IRS Publication 526.

If you want more than that, the US Code is available
via findlaw.com. The IRC is Title 26 :-)

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.arlington.ma.us

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"Rick" <nobody[at]home.com> wrote:

- quote -

.....
- quote -

Thanks for all who replied.

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"Arthur L. Rubin" <ronnirubin[at]sprintmail.com> wrote:
- quote -

Could you provide a citation with regards to more than 1
year rule?

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"Rick" <nobody[at]home.com> wrote:

- quote -

Most charitable deductions are limited to the lesser of the
fair market value or the cost of the item being donated.
Since the items you mention are not appreciated property
like stocks, the special rules for appreciated property
donations don't apply.

Gene E. Utterback, EA

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"Rick" <nobody[at]home.com> wrote:

- quote -

You are allowed the lesser of fair market value of what it
cost to you. Your cost of zero is probably the lesser amount
otherwise you have income for the value or cost of disposal
that the food bank gave you.

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"Rick" <nobody[at]home.com> wrote:

- quote -

Here deduction is limited to what she paid for the food or
was reported as income - $0.

--
David M. Woods, EA, ChFC, CLU
Woods Financial Services
Norwood, MA 02062

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- quote -

This is an easy question. The Fair market value of the food
you give away is the same as what you paid for it - nothing,
zero, nada.

Kate, EA in PA

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Rick wrote:

- quote -

You can only ignore the basis (apparently $0, in your case)
if the items are held more than a year. If held less than
a year, the deduction would be the lesser of FMV and vasis.

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- quote -

Sure, it is deductible, at exactly what you paid for it. -0-.

Helen, EA in PA
50 miles, 3 days, 1 cause - Multiple Sclerosis Challenge Walk for the Cure
October 1 to October 3, 2004
Donate on-line at www.msandyou.org

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I was wondering if someone could answer what " I " think
should be an easy question.

My girl friend works in a warehouse and occasionally
receives bags of damaged food items. Generally it's cereal,
soup and other items that have been damaged or the pallet
has been broken up. The amount an employee receives is
usually dependent on attendance. So an employee could get
from 0 to 4 bags in a given period. I can only suspect that
the company has written the items off as a loss. Nothing is
reported as income to the employee.

Anyway the amount of food is way more than we can use so we
will be giving the rest to a local food bank. The obvious
question is - Is this a tax deductible donation? If so what
would be a fair value?

Thanks for your thoughts,
Rick
ras_nos_pam[at]hotmail.com

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