[Chicago] Open Source Time Donation?

[Peter A. Harkins]

> So, if my company agrees to let me work on the sprint for a day, can
> they write that off?

They can write off the costs of your transportation or materials you spend
while doing the work, but not the cost of your time, no. In general you
have to donate specific tangible things for a deduction, not time or a
service.

I'd hazard a guess that this is so folks don't donate an hour to their
favorite non-profit at the low, low billable rate of $8,300,000 and thus
get a really sweet deduction come tax time. If you were the IRS, would you
want to have to determine a reasonable rate for every possible donated
service? Or worse, enforce it?