Can rent reduction be charitable deduction?

Question

I'm part of a small 501c3 non-profit religious organization. We are looking to rent a space to meet. We found a space we would like, but the rent is slightly out of our reach. The rent is 250.00, if we payed 200.00 could the landlord take the other 50.00 as a charitable contribution?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

No. The benefit that he gets is the $50 rent that he never received. His taxable income would drop by $600 per year since he never received the money in the first place.

There's another issue that he's facing. He may be limited on losses that he can deduct if he does not charge a market rent on the property. While that's probably not going to raise a question with the IRS on a single property or portion of a property, to stay fully legal he'd have to charge you the full rent and then write a separate check for the charitable donation. He may or may not get any benefit from that, depending upon how his business is organized legally and how he files his personal tax returns.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Drats, thought I was on to something there. Oh well, hopefully we can negotiate a rent.

Answer 2

He would get it through the back door. By not collecting the $50 it is the same as if he did collect it and then donated it back to you.

Answer 3

No.

Loss of income is never a deduction for whatever reason. He would just report $50 less in income.

It is a business decision for him; not a tax decision.

Answer 4

No. The income is simply not received.