Volunteering abroad and tax

karenj

May be posting this in the wrong place, but here goes. I am thinking of volunteering abroad in a wildlife reserve and just want to know what costs are tax deductible as I am registered for self assessment. I have read that volunteer costs are tax deductible, but need this to be confirmed and does it include travel costs.

Many thanks.

Wayne_O_Mac

None. You're not being paid, so there's nothing to deduct your expenses from.

booksurr

you can only deduct costs if you have an income from which to deduct them - you don't. Self assessment should not be confused with self employment. If you are self employed you have an income and associated costs - you don't have such an income.

if you do in fact have a self employment income and think volunteer "costs" are deductible from that income that also is wrong. For your volunteer costs to be eligible you would have to have a contract of employment with the charity and charities do not employ volunteers so it simply will not work.

if you have read this:
http://www.taxguideforstudents.org.uk/volunteering-training/i-am-a-volunteer-are-there-any-tax-rules-i-need-to-be-aware-of

then note it refers to them paying you expenses you incur. As it says those payments to you are (normally) non taxable, but if they do not pay you any expenses then you cannot claim tax relief on money you were not paid

Anyway will you actually have any tax to pay if you are :
a) abroad
and
b) volunteering?

kinger101

karenj wrote: »

I have read that volunteer costs are tax deductible

Where did you read this?

karenj

Thanks for all your replies. I just want to clarify though that

a) I am not a student, and
b) I am self employed and will be returning to my job as a live in carer upon my return.

This is where I read that volunteer costs are tax deductible:

But more importantly, as a non-profit organization, Enkosini contributes 100% of the funds directly towards conservation efforts. Volunteer costs are tax-deductible as contributions to conservation work through our non-profit The Lion Foundation.

Maybe I have just read it wrong.....

booksurr

karenj wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. I just want to clarify though that

a) I am not a student, and
b) I am self employed and will be returning to my job as a live in carer upon my return.

This is where I read that volunteer costs are tax deductible:

But more importantly, as a non-profit organization, Enkosini contributes 100% of the funds directly towards conservation efforts. Volunteer costs are tax-deductible as contributions to conservation work through our non-profit The Lion Foundation.

Maybe I have just read it wrong.....

would be more useful if you'd provided the link so we can see the full context, but I read that as Enkosini being able to deduct from its own tax liability, which is the context I would expect since them's the rules!

you may not be a student, but that website is a reasonable summary of the rules applicable to any volunteer so don't dismiss it

you still haven't answered the question of why you think you will have tax to pay in the year anyway. No income = no tax = nothing to deduct from to start with

Alter_ego

Wayne_O_Mac wrote: »

None. You're not being paid, so there's nothing to deduct your expenses from.

Heard about pensions? They are actually taxable.
Maybe not applicable to the OP but relevant.

booksurr

Alter_ego wrote: »

Heard about pensions? They are actually taxable.
Maybe not applicable to the OP but relevant.

err, in what way, shape, or form, are pensions relevant to the OP's question????

there are lots of things which are taxable, do you wish to list any more?

antrobus

karenj wrote: »

... But more importantly, as a non-profit organization, Enkosini contributes 100% of the funds directly towards conservation efforts. Volunteer costs are tax-deductible as contributions to conservation work through our non-profit The Lion Foundation. ...

Enkosini is a South African trust (#IT 1538-01) and United States 501c3 non-profit under our parent organization, The Lion Foundation (#91-2164693).
http://enkosini.org/Donation.htm

Therefore, please be advised that the statements they make concerning tax may well be true as regards US taxpayers, but might not be applicable to us Brits.

For a kick-off, tax relief for charitable contributions by individuals in the UK is available through Gift Aid, which is "a scheme providing relief for gifts of money to charities, including organisations in EU member states, Norway and Iceland and (from 31 July 2014) Liechtenstein, that meet the United Kingdom (UK) tax definition of a charity".

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charitable-giving-hs342-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs342-charitable-giving-2015

I think I'm right in saying that neither the US nor South Africa qualify as "EU member states".

Alter_ego

booksurr wrote: »

err, in what way, shape, or form, are pensions relevant to the OP's question????

there are lots of things which are taxable, do you wish to list any more?

The point is that if OP were a taxpayer via pension. There would be somewhere to deduct expenses from. Read the post I quoted for clarification.

antrobus

Alter_ego wrote: »

The point is that if OP were a taxpayer via pension. There would be somewhere to deduct expenses from. Read the post I quoted for clarification.

I think the original comment still applies; "there are lots of things which are taxable, do you wish to list any more?".:)

Not that it matters that much, the OP is still not going to get tax relief on their adventure holiday in South Africa, no matter what their source of income.