I assure you, that this is a legit organization! And, I can assure you the milage that is being wrote off is substantially more than .14 cpm! Lawrence McCord will have more info next week when he meets with the T/A rep!
I got all of that and beleive that many won't give a crap about any write off but here is the thing, I've been doing this stuff for over 17 years now and there are a lot of things that people can do and can't do which I am here as I am obligated to do to explain things to people in this forum. You can't write off a crap load of money just because you get a slip of paper from a charity, volunteer services are limited and because it is an IRS flag for an audit, it will greatly increase your chances of one.
Not only that, a lot of false charities pop up when disasters happen to rip people off - a disclosure is not just a good thing but in many cases should be the first thing. The IRS doesn't hand out the exempt recognition willynilly and it doesn't matter if Lawrence and T/A are involved - just saying it is a charity is ok but naming it means a lot. If people are claiming that there is representation of a charitable organization or making an offer without giving out a name, it is a flag.
You can not write off more than 14 cents a mile if you operate under the mileage exemption - that is the law, there are no exceptions and it is that way for a reason. Because your accountant (not a tax preparer) can get more out of it depending on your business situation, I would think that it would be prudent to pursue the question with them and not depend on anyone for a determination. Congress limits the charitable mileage to 14 cents to limit the abuse.
Take what you get and run with it..be it $.14 or considerably more...the fact is the people you will be helping NEED the help..I don't know everyone here and do not presume to know each persons life, but I can tell you that i hae been sown and out..through the help of others and hard work i am ok , but helping others is just want we do...
If you can help at all, do what you can..
Yes Dennis, I am not discouraging anyone from helping but rather want to make sure that people understand that this is not jump in the car and go time.
People need help, the help needs help, there are a number of levels of things people can do, but asking before going helps a lot more than showing up and then being part of a problem.
The people who are on the ground should have support groups they depend on, many of them are going to need to rotated out of the area to prevent burnout and others replacing them, this is one reason why in the other thread I said to contact those organizations to see where you can help out.
Many don't get how disaster recovery works nor is it always explained. Many times volunteers have to be vetted and then educated, while others are just asked to pitch in. I explained the process once before, explained the problems with being on the ground and explained how to help - I stopped asking a while ago because of the response I got here on EO.
