🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug7.210251.2437@redbrick.com> jfr@redbrick.com (Jon  
Rosen) writes:
>   First of all, have any of the user groups qualified under 501.c
>   regulations of the IRS as charitable organizations?  I highly doubt
>   it (although I might be wrong).  If not, NONE of these things could
>   even qualify as tax-deductible. 

I don't know the status as of today, but BANG has done this. I don't think  
it has been formally approved yet, but the papers are done. We will be a  
non-profit corporation effective since Jan. 1st, 1991.        
 
>   Second, even if they did, generally the acquisition of merchandise
>   through charitable auctions is not tax-deductible to the extent that
>   the amount spent is up to the fair-market value of the merchandise.
>   That is, if Paste-up sells for $295 and you bought it at auction for
>   $195, the $195 is NOT tax deductible at all.  The $295 might be
>   deductible to RightBrain since THEY donated the value of the 
>   merchandise to the user group.  But since the purchaser is getting
>   value for his money rather than making a true donation, he can't get
>   a deduction.  If you spent $395 for a $295 product, you might be able
>   to deduct $100 (since you "over-spent" so to speak, and contributed
>   an additional $100 to the user group), this of course still predicated
>   on the issue of whether the user group is even a qualified charitable
>   organization.  

BANG auctions typically net more than the suggested retail price. Last  
month, a $140 copy of Executor went for $260.
 
>   You might be able to get away with it on your tax return for a while,
>   but if you got audited and they seriously checked this stuff out, you
>   would probably lose the deduction.

If you have a canceled check made out to a non-profit corportation, I  
think it extremely unlikely that the IRS would challenge it.

M Carling
Director, Bay Area NeXT Group
--
Save a child, shoot a drug dealer.
Save a thousand, shoot an abortionist.