Re: Are synagogue dues charity?
ron judenberg (rsjuden@atlcom.net)
Wed, 09 Oct 1996 23:17:42 -0700
Joel said:
> The only deductible charitable contributions are those > for which the
donor recieves nothing in return. Dues do not meet this > criterion, as
the donor gets membsership benefits. (See section 170 of > the Internal
Revenue Code). You cannot deduct your shul dues! However, > contributions
above the dues amount are deductable. > > Also, this regulation applies to
all charitable membership organizations > equally -- church dues are not
deductable, nor are your dues to the > symphony society or alumni
association -- so there is no issue of > discrimination here.
This is only partially correct. The law says that you must deduct the
benefit value from the cost of a donation ie. if you go to a charity
dinner, the difference between the actuall cost of the meal and what you
paid is considered charity.
Strictly speaking, I think a case could be made that since you can pray in
a shul without being a member, only those extra services which non-members
don't get, such as free or dicount tickets for High Holidays, are
considered value received. The rest is charity.
Are there any accountants out there to clarify this?