For coaches, drivers, fosters, chaperones and every volunteer who pays their own way
Volunteer expense acknowledgment letters: what the IRS requires for out-of-pocket costs and mileage
A volunteer's time is never deductible, but the gas, supplies, uniforms and travel they pay for while serving your organization can be. For any single unreimbursed expense of $250 or more, the volunteer must hold a written acknowledgment from you that describes the services they performed and says whether they received anything in return. It must not state an amount; their own receipts and mileage log do that. Here is the letter, the log they should keep, and the rules in plain English.
Your first batch of letters is free. Donor data never leaves your browser.
What a volunteer can and cannot deduct
| Expense | Deductible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Driving for the organization | Yes | 14¢ per mile (statutory, all of 2026) or actual gas and oil; parking and tolls on top. Keep a log with date, purpose and miles |
| Supplies bought for the program (first-aid kit, craft materials, printing, postage) | Yes | Receipts required; $250+ single purchases also need your letter |
| Required uniform not suitable for everyday wear, and its cleaning | Yes | A plain T-shirt with your logo usually fails the "not suitable for everyday wear" test |
| Travel away from home on duty (chaperone, conference delegate, disaster-relief shift) | Yes, if no significant personal pleasure | Reasonable airfare, lodging and meals while on duty (IRC §170(j)); describe the duties and dates in the letter |
| Foster animal food, litter and vet bills paid by a foster volunteer | Yes | Van Dusen v. Commissioner (2011); see the animal rescue page |
| Expenses the organization reimbursed | No | Nothing was out of pocket. If the volunteer donates the reimbursement back, that is a cash gift |
| The value of the volunteer's time or professional services | No | Treas. Reg. §1.170A-1(g). True even for a CPA, lawyer or contractor working at their normal rate |
| Child care while volunteering | No | Personal expense |
| Meals during a local shift, not travelling overnight | No | Personal expense |
| Depreciation, insurance, registration, general repairs on the car | No | Only gas and oil (or the 14¢ rate) count |
| Travel with a significant vacation element | No | A meeting tacked onto a beach week does not convert the trip |
| Expenses for a group that is not a qualified charity | No | Confirm your 501(c)(3) status; a PTA, church or booster club usually qualifies |
Everything on the "yes" side has three conditions in common: it must be unreimbursed, directly connected with the services, and incurred only because of the services. The volunteer proves the amount; your letter proves the services.
What the letter must contain
- Your organization's name (and, helpfully, EIN).
- A description of the services the volunteer provided: what, when, for which program. This is the element the regulation requires and the one most letters leave out.
- The goods-or-services statement: either "No goods or services were provided" or a description and good-faith value of anything the volunteer received (a free banquet ticket, for example).
- No dollar amount. Do not estimate the volunteer's expenses or the value of their time.
- Date, and delivery before the volunteer files their return.
Volunteer expense acknowledgment letter template
Describe the services specifically. Delete the bracketed alternatives that do not apply.
[Organization legal name] [Mailing address] EIN [00-0000000] [Date] [Volunteer name] [Volunteer address] Dear [Volunteer first name], Thank you for volunteering with [Organization name] during [calendar year]. This letter acknowledges the services you provided: From [start date] to [end date], you [coached the U-10 girls' team for the fall season (24 practices and 12 games) / drove meal-delivery routes every Tuesday / fostered six kittens and two adult dogs / staffed the clinic front desk two mornings a week], and in connection with those services you paid for [travel to and from practices and away games / the fuel for your delivery route / pet food, litter and veterinary visits / printing and supplies] at your own expense. No goods or services were provided to you in exchange for your services or the expenses you incurred. This letter does not state a dollar amount. Under IRS rules, unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses paid while performing services for a qualified charity may be deductible as a charitable contribution; your own receipts and mileage log substantiate the amounts, and this acknowledgment substantiates the services. The value of your time is not deductible. [Organization name] is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Please keep this letter with your tax records. With gratitude, [Signer name] [Title]
Paragraph to add to a donor's year-end letter
For the volunteer who also gives money: list the cash gifts as usual, then add this.
In addition to your cash gifts listed above, this letter acknowledges the volunteer services you provided to [Organization name] in [year]: [describe the services, dates and what the volunteer paid for]. No goods or services were provided in exchange. This paragraph does not state an amount; unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses of volunteers may be deductible and are substantiated by your own receipts and mileage log. The value of your time is not deductible.
Mileage and expense log to hand your volunteers
The volunteer keeps this; you do not. Give it out at the start of the season so the records are contemporaneous.
VOLUNTEER MILEAGE AND EXPENSE LOG — [Volunteer name] — [Organization name] — [Year] Date Purpose / where Miles Parking & tolls Other expense (what, $) ---------- ------------------------------------- ------ ---------------- --------------------------- [01/14] [Home → practice field → home] [18] [$0] [—] [01/21] [Home → away game, Elm City → home] [64] [$6 toll] [—] [02/02] [Supplies for team first-aid kit] [—] [—] [Walgreens, $47.12 — receipt] Totals: [___] miles × $0.14 = $[___] + parking/tolls $[___] + other $[___] = $[___] Keep every receipt. The organization's acknowledgment letter describes the services; this log and your receipts prove the amounts.
Volunteers and donors from the same spreadsheet
Add a row per volunteer with the services in the In-kind column, starting with the word "Volunteer" (for example Volunteer coaching: fall 2026 season, 24 practices and 12 games, travel and first-aid supplies at own expense) and leave Amount blank. The generator writes the services sentence, the goods-or-services statement and the no-amount paragraph, prints no figure, and still totals cash gifts for people who did both. Export as PDF, Word or a mail-merge CSV.
Volunteer expense questions
Can volunteers deduct the value of their time?
No. The regulations (Treas. Reg. §1.170A-1(g)) say flatly that no deduction is allowed for a contribution of services. A CPA who does a nonprofit's books for free, a carpenter who builds its shelves and a parent who coaches a team deduct nothing for their hours, however valuable. What they can deduct are the unreimbursed out-of-pocket costs they paid in order to perform those services.
Which volunteer expenses are deductible?
Costs that are unreimbursed, directly connected with the services, incurred only because of the services, and not personal, living or family expenses. Typical examples: driving for the charity (14 cents per mile, or the actual cost of gas and oil, plus parking and tolls), supplies the volunteer bought for the program, a required uniform that is not suitable for everyday wear and its cleaning, postage and printing, and travel away from home when there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation or vacation. Not deductible: the value of time, child care so the volunteer could volunteer, meals that are not part of overnight travel, depreciation, insurance or repairs on the car, and anything the charity reimbursed.
What is the charitable mileage rate for 2026?
14 cents per mile for all of 2026. Unlike the business rate (which the IRS raised mid-year), the charitable rate is written into the statute at Section 170(i) and only Congress can change it; it has been 14 cents since 1998. Parking fees and tolls are deductible on top of the mileage. A volunteer can instead deduct the actual cost of gas and oil attributable to the charitable driving, but not depreciation, insurance, registration or general repairs.
Does the volunteer need a letter from us?
If any single unreimbursed expense is $250 or more, yes. Treas. Reg. §1.170A-13(f)(10) says a volunteer substantiates such an expense with (1) adequate records of the amount and (2) a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity that describes the services provided and states whether any goods or services were given in return. Below $250 the volunteer's own receipts and log are enough, but a letter is still good practice and most volunteers appreciate it.
Should the letter state a dollar amount?
No. The charity did not receive money, so it cannot vouch for what the volunteer spent; stating a figure invites the IRS to treat it as the charity's representation. The regulation asks the acknowledgment to describe the services, not the expenses. Say what the volunteer did, over what period, in connection with which program, and state that no goods or services were provided. The volunteer attaches their own receipts and mileage log.
Is $250 measured per expense, per year or per volunteer?
Per separate contribution, which for volunteer expenses means per expense. In Van Dusen v. Commissioner (136 T.C. 515, 2011), a case about a volunteer fostering cats for a rescue, the Tax Court allowed the expenses under $250 that she could document and disallowed every expense of $250 or more because she had no written acknowledgment from the rescue. Separate purchases are separate contributions, so a $300 vet bill needs the letter even if the volunteer's $40 bags of food do not.
What does 'contemporaneous' mean for a volunteer letter?
The volunteer must have the acknowledgment by the earlier of the date they file their return for the year or the return's due date including extensions. Practically, send volunteer letters in January along with your year-end donor letters, or at the end of the season or program, and do not wait for anyone to ask.
Do we have to issue the letter, and is there a penalty if we do not?
There is no penalty on the charity for failing to acknowledge a gift (the quid pro quo disclosure penalty is different and applies only to payments over $75 where the donor got something back). The consequence falls on the volunteer, who loses the deduction. That is reason enough: volunteers are your most committed supporters, and a two-paragraph letter costs you nothing.
Can a volunteer who travels for us deduct airfare, hotels and meals?
Only if there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation or vacation in the travel (Section 170(j)), and the volunteer is on genuine duty for a substantial part of each day. A chaperone who supervises a youth group's whole trip can deduct reasonable travel, lodging and meals; a board member who adds three beach days to a two-hour meeting cannot. Travel letters should describe the volunteer's duties and the dates they were on duty.
Can volunteer expenses be claimed under the 2026 deduction for people who do not itemize?
Unclear. Starting with 2026 returns, people who take the standard deduction can deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) of cash contributions to public charities. IRS Publication 526 has long treated out-of-pocket volunteer expenses as cash contributions for recordkeeping, but whether the new deduction reaches them has not been spelled out. Tell volunteers to ask their preparer; your letter is the same either way.
How do we handle a volunteer who also donates money?
One year-end letter can do both. List the cash gifts with dates and amounts as usual, then add a paragraph (copy the one below) describing the volunteer services with no amount. In the generator, put the volunteer services in the In-kind column beginning with the word 'Volunteer' and the engine writes the services sentence and the no-amount paragraph automatically while still totalling the cash.
Should we reimburse volunteers instead?
If you can afford to, reimbursing documented expenses under an accountable plan is simpler for everyone: the volunteer is made whole, there is no deduction and no letter. Many volunteers then choose to donate the reimbursement back, which is a plain cash gift you acknowledge normally. Just do not describe a reimbursement as a 'stipend' or pay a flat amount unrelated to receipts; that can look like compensation.
General information based on Internal Revenue Code §170(i), §170(j) and §170(f)(8), Treasury Regulations §1.170A-1(g) and §1.170A-13(f)(10), IRS Notice 2026-10, IRS Publication 526 and Publication 1771, and Van Dusen v. Commissioner, 136 T.C. 515 (2011). Not legal or tax advice; volunteers should confirm their own deductions with a tax adviser.