Why can’t you claim a tax deduction for hair that you donate?
If I donate my hair to Locks of Love or another organization like it why can’t I take a tax deduction on it? I’ve spent a lot of time growing it and taking care of it so why not?
Couldn’t cost go into the shampoo/conditioner ect spent to keep the hair up?
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September 5th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Hmm, maybe you can talk to a tax attorney or something to see if you can put a “fair market” value on your donation? Who knows I mean look at all the shampoo and conditioner you had to buy to maintain it right!!
September 5th, 2010 at 11:38 am
For the same reason that you can’t take a tax deduction for donating an organ or donating your time.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:45 am
You never declared your time as income for tax purposes, so you have no basis in the hair. No basis, no deduction.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
You are only allowed to deduct the lower of your cost basis or the FMV at the time of the donation. Your basis in your hair unfortunately is treated as $0 so that’s what you can deduct: $0.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
You can only deduct cost or fair market value, whichever is lower, for a donation. Unless you bought the hair, you have no deduction since your cost would be zero regardless of its market value.
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September 5th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Keeping it in good shape was a personal expense for while you had it, THEN you donated it.
And to put it more simply, you can’t deduct it because the law doesn’t allow you to.