June 14, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
By MEG SOMMERFELD
A growing number of opportunities exist to turn vacations into tax write-offs, as more nonprofit groups organize volunteer trips to exotic locales, reports Forbes magazine (June 11) in “Walter Mitty Meets Uncle Sam.”
Darren Jobbs, a pilot for United Airlines, has traveled to Spain to help biologists collect data on dolphins and this year is deciding between volunteer trips to Belize or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He deducts the cost of the trips, organized by universities and other nonprofit organizations, as charitable donations, saving one-third of the expense.
Forbes notes that fees for a volunteer trip usually range from $1,000 to $3,000, a relative bargain compared to “ecotourism” trips by for-profit operators that can run as much as $10,000.
“Make no mistake: These aren’t luxury cruises in which you spot a few whales from your deck chair and hit the buffet,” Forbes warns.
To deduct the cost of a trip, the magazine writes, participants must work a 40-hour week, and should keep a written log of their hours in case they are audited.
As for the cost of travel to the location, the magazine says that according to the I.R.S., airfare or other travel expenses are deductible only if the travel has “no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation.”
The article is available at www.forbes.com.
