Put 33% Back into Your Travel Budget

Did you know that when you serve with Global Volunteers – in any one of our 17 host countries worldwide – you quality for certain tax deductions? It’s true. You benefit by joining one of our tax-deductible volunteer programs if you’re a U.S. taxpayer, because your volunteer program fee and related costs, such as air fare and visa, are tax-deductible.

Why is a Global Volunteers program fee tax-deductible?

Global Volunteers is a 501-C3 tax-exempt corporation under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (see IRS Form 526). Basically, the principle reason these expenses are tax-deductible to U.S. citizens is that, as a taxpayer, you are doing the work of Global Volunteers, a charitable organization.

How much do I save as a Global Volunteer?

When combining federal and state income tax savings, the average volunteer will save about 33% of the total cost of the volunteer program. (And that doesn’t even include discounts!) Here’s an example…

Volunteer Program Fee …… $2,595.00
Average Air Fare ……………… $1,500.00
Visa …………………………………. $75.00
Total ……………………………….. $4,170.00

33% tax savings …………….. $1,376.10

Testimonial from 9-time Global Volunteer:

“I was curious, so I prepared my individual taxes this year both with the Global Volunteers charitable deduction and without, and I realized that deducting the program fee, airfare, travel insurance and visa would net me almost $1,500 more than without that deduction. I always heard about the value of the tax deduction, but I really didn’t think seriously about it until I analyzed it this way myself. I’m looking forward to using the refund for my next service program this year. It’s like recycled money!”

– Esther Schak, 9-time Global Volunteer

Things to Remember about Tax-deductible Volunteer Programs

Global Volunteers strictly adheres to IRS requirements that you work, on average, eight hours per day, five days out of seven days to ensure you can claim this tax benefit. Additional travel or vacation either before or after a volunteer program may disqualify all or part of the volunteer program fee (i.e. air fare) from being a charitable deduction. We do not offer tax advice outside of what we know. We state only that all contributions (volunteer program fees) to Global Volunteers and the expenses associated with doing the work of Global Volunteers are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers.

Visit “Money Matters – Explaining Your Service Program Fee” to learn more on this topic.

A “Working Vacation” You’ll Never Forget

Come join us on one of our tax-deductible volunteer programs. A Global Volunteers volunteer vacation is not just an opportunity to travel and immerse yourself in a foreign culture; it’s an opportunity to use your unique skills and interests to help provide children with a horizon they wouldn’t otherwise have. You’ll do real work on this vacation. Good work that will change your worldview. Even your life.