Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
map, and get to the top of a peak, gaining an appreciation of the need for preservation of the
environment.
HOW I WROTE OFF MY SUMMER VACATION
Since some of the fees you pay for volunteer vacations are used to support research
and other noble causes, they may qualify as a charitable contribution. That means
the vacation is tax deductible. In fact, if you happen to be in the 28 percent tax
bracket, Uncle Sam will foot more than a fourth of the cost of your volunteer vaca-
tion. As you may suspect, the IRS isn't keen on subsidizing fun and games, which
is why volunteer organizations often recoil when their volunteer projects are called
“tax-deductible vacations.”
There's no question about the deductibility of the portion of the fee that supports
the research. But travel costs qualify only if there's “no significant element of per-
sonal pleasure or vacation.” Not that they'll disqualify you if you happen to have
a good time. What it means is that if you tour the country before or afterward, you
forfeit being able to deduct transportation costs.
Although many inner-city outings are one-day trips (hikes in a nearby state park, after-
noons at a farm to see where milk comes from, day trips to a beach to collect shells), ICO
volunteers also organize multiday backpacking trips, canoeing trips, and cross-country ski
trips. All these community outreach trips are organized through local ICO groups.
On one ICO from New York City, for example, volunteers took a group of kids camping
on Fire Island. They spent the weekend swimming, shell hunting, playing catch with Frisbees
and baseballs, building a sand sphinx, and inventing games such as saltwater
Jeopardy!
