Auditing

Please reply to each of the post made by the others;

1) Should the labor we donate when we volunteer be deductible?  How would it be calculated?  What would be the advantages and disadvantages?

I believe labor donated to charity should be deductible as it is likely the hours you have donated are helping the charity to generate revenues/savings and I do believe there should be some type of benefit in helping these types of organizations. Although it does raise the issue of the definition of volunteering. As when you volunteer, you are more than likely doing so for no benefit other than simply to help others. However the chart below demonstrates the average number of hours that have been used volunteering. In 2013 alone more than 63 million volunteers provided more than 163 Billion dollars worth of free labor had they been paid. I believe that these volunteers should have gotten some type of benefit (although this benefit could be small) for simply helping others. 

TABLE 1. 

http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000008-Tax-Policy-and-Volunteer-Labor.pdf

The calculation could be based on the hours donated. There should be a threshold for hours (min and max) and it should be subjected to the taxpayers income. The min could be 30 hours of volunteering and the max could be for 250 hours. For example if a taxpayer volunteered for 50 hours in the year 2015 they would be able to deduct this. However to determine the amount that is when it could get more complex. There could be a chart helping the preparer to calculate the deduction based on the hours worked and their level of income. 

The advantages of this is that charities would begin to receive more free labor helping them to operate more efficiently and cut costs. The disadvantage is that the determination of the hours worked can be very subjective and a pain to verify if ever audited by the IRS. 

2)Volunteer labor deductions