Author Topic: I have an idea  (Read 1892 times)

Offline shirtz

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I have an idea
« on: February 19, 2013, 06:38:59 AM »
We just reprinted an order for a pita customer and have some nice shirts that were rejected.  I would rather donate them to a worthy cause than use them as rags. The thought of these people getting any free local advertising by donating locally doesn't sit we'll with me either.
 So my thought was if someone out of my area had a charity that they work with I would be happy to ship them out. It's about a 100 or so pcs of beefy ts and I'd hate to waste them.


Offline mk162

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2013, 08:22:46 AM »
operation homefront...
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=operation+homefront+ga&fb=1&gl=us&hq=operation+homefront&hnear=0x88f136c51d5f8157:0x6684bc10ec4f10e7,Georgia&cid=0,0,11069011159478724836&ei=MnwjUczCEIy89gTf4IDwDg&ved=0CJcBEPwSMAA

if you scroll straight up, i live back there very close to murdock elementary school(it's also where i went to school as a kid)

The other one is fashion delivers, those folks send shirts to other countries.

Offline Prosperi-Tees

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2013, 10:14:40 AM »
We volunteer for a local charity called Scarlet Revolution that serves the local homeless. They are always looking for clothing. You can check them out at scarletrevolution.org . You can ship to them or us. let me know either way. Thank you.

Offline shirtz

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2013, 10:37:15 AM »
Thanks guys, I got a hold of Operation Homefront and they were happy to get them. Also found out that I can write off shipping and my hard costs involved as a contribution.
Something positive out of an other wise negative situation.

Offline Frog

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2013, 10:41:01 AM »
Good deal. Don't forget that you have (probably) already written off the blank shirts and ink, etc as expenses.
Those nit-pickers at the IRS don't like no double dippers.
That rug really tied the room together, did it not?

Offline ZooCity

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2013, 12:41:09 PM »
Frog is correct, the whole write off thing is a myth.

Offline Screened Gear

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2013, 01:04:42 PM »
Frog is correct, the whole write off thing is a myth.

Non profits are a full write off, that is what they told me. 

Are you saying the $10,000 in non profit work I did this year will not come off what I owe the government?

Offline sportsshoppe

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2013, 01:12:35 PM »
I'd take and have taken the lose rather than throwing up a RED flag to IRS.... Just my 2 cent, don't want them to even take a double look at my business. I may think I am doing everything right but I have heard some aweful stories about them ole boys.

Offline ZooCity

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2013, 02:38:41 PM »
Frog is correct, the whole write off thing is a myth.

Non profits are a full write off, that is what they told me. 

Are you saying the $10,000 in non profit work I did this year will not come off what I owe the government?

I am saying that or, rather, Uncle Sam is. 

When doing work for a charitable and recording the "value" for tax purposes:
  • You can never use any labor as part of this value.
  • You have already expensed your materials

Total value of your donation in terms of tax deduction = 0

Toss in the fact that entities such as an S-Corp can't even deduct charitables (they pass through to owners if any do occur) and you can see how much of this is just a myth. 

The reality is that you can file your charitable contributions for actual items you donate (minus depreciation and such of course) or cash.  A % of that adjusted amount will apply against your taxes for that year.

I've looked for every possible way around this, it just won't happen.  The justification from the IRS (and I guess a fair one) is that you could make up some ludicrous value for your services and abuse this. 

One thing you could try is to invoice the NPO, have them pay in full and then donate cash back to them. It will not help your corporation at all since you now have income for the full invoice amount and the profit inherent with that income but it could benefit you personally in an S-corp scenario where you are the sole shareholder.   Again, if you donate $x to an NPO only an adjusted % is taken off your taxes.  It's a huge, huge misconception that business can write this off and a total bummer for us businesses that donate heavily.




Offline Screened Gear

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2013, 02:56:33 PM »
Frog is correct, the whole write off thing is a myth.

Non profits are a full write off, that is what they told me. 

Are you saying the $10,000 in non profit work I did this year will not come off what I owe the government?

I am saying that or, rather, Uncle Sam is. 

When doing work for a charitable and recording the "value" for tax purposes:
  • You can never use any labor as part of this value.
  • You have already expensed your materials

Total value of your donation in terms of tax deduction = 0

Toss in the fact that entities such as an S-Corp can't even deduct charitables (they pass through to owners if any do occur) and you can see how much of this is just a myth. 

The reality is that you can file your charitable contributions for actual items you donate (minus depreciation and such of course) or cash.  A % of that adjusted amount will apply against your taxes for that year.

I've looked for every possible way around this, it just won't happen.  The justification from the IRS (and I guess a fair one) is that you could make up some ludicrous value for your services and abuse this. 

One thing you could try is to invoice the NPO, have them pay in full and then donate cash back to them. It will not help your corporation at all since you now have income for the full invoice amount and the profit inherent with that income but it could benefit you personally in an S-corp scenario where you are the sole shareholder.   Again, if you donate $x to an NPO only an adjusted % is taken off your taxes.  It's a huge, huge misconception that business can write this off and a total bummer for us businesses that donate heavily.

Good post. I didn't do $10,000 nonprofit work.  Funny part is I have nonprofits call me and ask for free shirts alot. I always tell them to send an email explaining their situation and how us donating to them will help there organization. Also include their Nonprofit identification numbers. To this day I have never got an email with the info.

Offline ZooCity

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2013, 04:09:46 PM »
We actually do that in NP work, probably more, annually in the form of in-kind donations of product+services so I feel pretty disenfranchised with the tax setup on this.   

Our town is not only full of legitimate NPOs but I personally want to support many of their missions. 

Offline Screened Gear

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Re: I have an idea
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2013, 04:13:48 PM »
We actually do that in NP work, probably more, annually in the form of in-kind donations of product+services so I feel pretty disenfranchised with the tax setup on this.   

Our town is not only full of legitimate NPOs but I personally want to support many of their missions.

I just started doing discounts for NPO. That way its not a red flag and I still get the works and feel good about it all. Paid NPO work I do is close to $10,000.  :D