How to Track Volunteer Hours for Taxes
Volunteer hours are not tax-deductible, but mileage and out-of-pocket expenses are. Learn what to log and how to claim it on your return.
5 min read · 8 steps · Checked May 2026
Step 1. Confirm the nonprofit is a qualified charity
Go to irs.gov and search for "Tax Exempt Organization Search." Type the nonprofit's name into the search box. If it appears with the label 501(c)(3), your expenses are deductible. If you cannot find it, ask the nonprofit's office for their EIN (employer identification number) and search by that. Skip this step at your peril — claiming a deduction for a non-qualified group can trigger an IRS notice.
Quick Tip
Most churches, soup kitchens, scouting groups, and major medical charities are 501(c)(3). Political action committees and labor unions are not.
Step 2. Start a mileage log on January 1st
Buy a small notebook or print a free mileage log template (search "IRS volunteer mileage log" online). Each time you drive to a volunteer activity, write the date, the nonprofit's name, the starting mileage on your odometer, the ending mileage, the round-trip total, and the purpose ("Meals on Wheels delivery," "hospital gift shop shift"). The IRS calls this "contemporaneous" — meaning written the same day.
Step 3. Save receipts for out-of-pocket supplies
Any time you buy something for volunteer work — poster board for a fundraiser, ingredients for a charity bake sale, a uniform shirt — keep the receipt. Write on the back what it was for and which nonprofit. Store all receipts in a single envelope labeled with the year. At tax time, total them up.
Step 4. Track parking, tolls, and overnight travel
If you pay for parking or tolls during a volunteer trip, save those receipts too. They are deductible on top of the 14-cent mileage rate. For overnight volunteer trips (mission trips, Habitat builds), keep all hotel and meal receipts. The trip must be primarily for volunteer work, not a vacation with a few volunteer hours mixed in.
Warning
Do not claim mileage if the nonprofit reimburses you for gas. You can only deduct expenses you actually paid for yourself.
Step 5. Calculate your total at tax time
In January, add up all your volunteer mileage for the year and multiply by 0.14. Add parking, tolls, supply receipts, uniforms, and overnight travel costs. Write the grand total on a single sheet labeled "Volunteer Expenses Year XXXX." This is the figure your tax preparer will use.
Step 6. Claim the deduction on Schedule A
Volunteer expenses go on Schedule A of your Form 1040, on the line marked Charitable Contributions. You can only claim them if you itemize deductions instead of taking the standard deduction. For 2026, the standard deduction for couples 65 and over is $34,800 — most retirees do not itemize unless they have a large mortgage or major medical bills.
Step 7. Ask the nonprofit for a written acknowledgement if total exceeds $250
If your out-of-pocket volunteer expenses for one nonprofit go over $250 in a year, the IRS requires a written letter from that nonprofit. The letter must say what you did and confirm they did not give you anything in return. Most volunteer coordinators are happy to write one — ask before December 31st.
Step 8. Hang on to records for three years
Keep the mileage log, receipts, and any acknowledgement letters in your tax folder for three years after you file. The IRS can audit returns up to three years back, and good records make any audit go quickly. After three years, you can shred them.
A surprising tax fact catches many new volunteers off guard: the IRS does not let you deduct the value of your time, no matter how skilled you are. A retired CPA who donates 200 hours a year doing nonprofit bookkeeping cannot claim a single dollar for the work itself. The reason, in plain English, is that the IRS only allows deductions for money or property you actually gave away — and your hours are neither.
What you can deduct are the out-of-pocket costs of volunteering. The most common one is mileage to and from the volunteer site, claimed at a rate of 14 cents per mile (this rate has not changed since 1998 and is set by Congress, not the IRS). If you drive 50 miles a week to deliver Meals on Wheels, that adds up to about $364 a year. Parking fees and tolls on volunteer trips also count.
Other expenses you can claim include uniforms required by the nonprofit (and not suitable for everyday wear), supplies you bought yourself for the role (poster board, art materials, ingredients for a fundraiser dinner), and travel costs if the volunteer work requires an overnight trip — like a church mission trip or a Habitat for Humanity build in another state. Meals during local volunteer work are not deductible, but meals on overnight trips are.
To claim any of this, the nonprofit must be a qualified 501(c)(3) charity. Most well-known organizations are: Salvation Army, Red Cross, your church, your local food bank. You can check any nonprofit's status at irs.gov by clicking the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. Political campaigns and most homeowner associations are not qualified, even if they call themselves nonprofits.
Keep a simple log of every trip. The IRS does not require a fancy app — a paper notebook in the glove box works. Write the date, the nonprofit's name, the round-trip miles, and the purpose. At tax time, total the miles and multiply by 14 cents.
Official sources
- Medicare.gov — medicare.gov
- SSA.gov — ssa.gov
- IRS.gov — irs.gov
- USA.gov — usa.gov
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