Tax Deduction on Wedding Venue?

keserzan

Have any of you ladies heard about not-for-profit wedding venues being eligible as a tax deduction? I just heard about this, and our venue is a not-for-profit botanical garden. All membership donations are tax deductible, and the statement at the bottom of the wedding pricing sheet states, "Rental fees directly support the Garden's mission - to inspire all who enter to become partners with nature, by preserving and perpetuating a nurturing environment for horticulture excellence, aesthetic enjoyment, educational opportunity, research and appreciation of the botanical and agricultural heritage of this region."
I just heard about it, and haven't contacted my venue yet to check...but wanted to know if it could really work.

LVCK

Let me know what you find out! Mine is a non-profit gallery supporting local arts organizations, so it might fall in the same boat. I had never thought of tax deductions.

pirategal03

It depends.   If your venue considers it a contribution and not a rental fee then the value of your contribution minus the value of what you receive (like if they're providing tables/chairs so you're not renting them, the cost to rent would be subtracted) COULD be tax deductible if you itimize.

If it's a 501c(3) then your venue should be familiar with the forms that acknowledge the contribution.  That's what you'd need for your tax preparer to make the deduction on your forms. 

Basically your venue needs to send you the form that they send other donors.  It's a "thank you for your donation in the amount of XYZ.  Please continue to donate in the future..yada yada"

Most likely, your venue won't send you this form.  Renting the location is an "exchange transaction" so you're getting something for your money, that's not tax deductible. 

I think of it like buying Girl Scout cookies, the cost of the cookies isn't tax deductable because you're getting something in return, but if you just give the Girl Scouts $100, that's deductible because you got nothing in return.

So in short.  Ask if they consider it a contribution or a rental.  And if it's a contribution ask if they'll send you a donor form.  If they do, then deduct the amount that's on the form!

pirategal03

^ This is not professional advice.  ^

Beth0882

Not a tax professional either, but I am pretty sure Pirategal03 is correct -- if you are getting something of value for what you pay to a nonprofit, you can't deduct it.  So if you go to a benefit dinner and pay $100.00 for a ticket, but the dinner you get is valued at $50.00, only $50.00 of it would be tax deductible.  Same thing for silent auctions -- even though your money is going towards charity, you are getting something of value from it.  Thus, even if the venue tells you they value the cost as a contribution rather than rental, I'd be careful about relyingon that.  If the IRS were to audit, I am sure they would find that you got some value out of your "contribution".  Since its a significant amount, you might want to consult a tax professional around tax time though - might be worth it.