Legal Question in Tax Law in North Carolina

empty storefront-donation of space no rent

Our nonprofit 501 c 3 public charity status, a self-help group of persons, recently was given a donation of a place(empty storefront owned by a local businessman) to do a food distribution to the poor. We were there approx 5 maybe 6 months. Is the owner eligible for a tax donation for use of his property? He then had us move to a storefront next door for 3 months and on both occassion rented it to for profit businesses. We are currently without a place to distribute food. We would like your input about possibly giving him a tax receipt for the donation of his place. We are told the building are possibly an already tax write off since they were empty for a long period prior to our occupation. We only utilixe it 10 hours a week or less.


Asked on 6/27/08, 8:36 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ronald Cappuccio Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

Re: empty storefront-donation of space no rent

Sirs:

If you are a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization, donations should be tax deductible. You certainly could give the landlord a letter thanking him for use of the space. The Landlord should get a deduction for his normal expenses. Note, since the landlord already was paying expenses, he does not get a deduction for the rent he would have earned. For example, if the expenses are $100 and the lost rent is $500, the landlord can deduct $500 not $100.

I hope this clears up your question.

Ron Cappuccio

http://www.taxesq.com

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Answered on 6/27/08, 2:08 pm


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