Charity Tax Deduction Question

[nemgan]

Hello,

Thanks in advance for your help. Question:

I have a 1 year old and a 4 year old in day care at a legitimate church and all contributions to the church and non-tuition related donations to the preschool section qualify as tax deductible donations. At the beginning of the school year, the church sends a letter regarding monthly tuition costs (runs about $1800 / month for both kids). In November, we took a vacation and both kids were pulled from the school for 2 weeks. the church was notified a few months in advance about the vacation, yet we never asked for any discount on tuition. Every January/February, the church sends a tax statement regarding which fees qualify and which do not qualify for tax deductions. Usually only a few hundred dollars a year qualify while the vast majority of paid expenses do not, since school tuition is not a charitable contribution.

Question: Is is appropriate to ask the church to count a portion of the tuition paid in November as charity and not tuition, since they were notified well in advance that their services would not be needed for approximately half the month?

Thanks.

 

[davew128]

Just because you didn't have your child attend doesn't mean it wasn't tuition. Put in yet another way, you didn't give the church the money out of disinterested generosity (a requirement for a charitable donation).