Can you deduct the value of your time volunteering?
No. The hours you give, even skilled hours a charity would otherwise pay for, aren’t deductible. What you spend while volunteering can be.
The rule
You can’t deduct the value of your time or services. Six hours a week at a front desk where the paid receptionist earns $10 an hour isn’t a $60 gift.
The same is true of pay you give up to volunteer, and of blood given to a blood bank.
Costs you pay because you volunteer can count if you itemize: miles driven at 14 cents a mile, a uniform, travel while on duty.
- Without itemizing
- No
- If you itemize
- No
- What to keep
- For what you spend while volunteering, receipts and a mileage log.
Checked on October 2, 2026 against Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
Federal tax only. States set their own rules for gifts.
Keep every gift with its receipt.
From 2026, up to $1,000 of cash gifts counts even without itemizing. Reimburse keeps each gift with the charity’s receipt, asks for the paper the IRS wants, and shows what it puts back.