T.C. Summary Opinion 2011-120

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

TAWANA L. BRADLEY, Petitioner v.

COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Docket No. 3564-10S. Filed October 12, 2011.

Tawana L. Bradley, pro se.

Kristin M. Bourland, for respondent.

RUWE, Judge: This case was heard pursuant to the provisions

of section 74631 of the Internal Revenue Code in effect when the

petition was filed. Pursuant to section 7463(b), the decision to 

1Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to

the Internal Revenue Code as amended and in effect for the year

in issue, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of

Practice and Procedure.
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be entered is not reviewable by any other court, and this opinion

shall not be treated as precedent for any other case.

Respondent determined deficiencies of $7,773 and $4,328 in

petitioner’s 2006 and 2007 Federal income taxes and accuracyrelated penalties under section 6662(a) of $1,554.60 and $865.60

for the 2006 and 2007 taxable years, respectively. After

concessions,2 the only issue remaining for decision is whether

petitioner is entitled to deduct $822.27 in unreimbursed expenses

associated with her volunteer activities as a charitable

contribution deduction for the taxable year 2006.

Background 

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. 

The stipulation of facts, the stipulation of settled issues, and

the attached exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference. 

At the time the petition was filed, petitioner resided in

Kentucky.

Petitioner timely filed a joint Federal income tax return

with her ex-husband, Anthony Bradley, for the taxable year 2006.

During 2006 petitioner conducted volunteer activities as a

cheerleading coach for a youth football and cheerleading league

that petitioner identified as the Muhammad Ali Youth Football and

Cheerleaders League (league). Petitioner contends that she made

2The parties entered into a stipulation of settled issues

for all of the other issues regarding the deficiencies and

penalties determined for 2006 and 2007. 
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various unreimbursed charitable contributions regarding the

league’s cheerleading activity, including: (1) Paying for a

charter bus rental; (2) paying for pizzas, party favors, and

other supplies for a team party; and (3) the use of petitioner’s

and her ex-husband’s automobiles for travel to and from team

practices and games. 

Petitioner provided a charter confirmation form from Toby

Tours, Inc., a bus rental company. The charter confirmation is

dated November 24, 2006, and indicates that the rental price was

$660 and that the bus was scheduled for pickup and return on

December 10, 2006. The charter confirmation form indicates that

the bus was rented on behalf of a cheerleading group and lists

petitioner as the contact for the group. The form does not

identify the group as the Muhammad Ali Youth Football and

Cheerleaders League. Instead, the form identifies the group as

the Yellow Jackets Cheerleaders.3 Petitioner paid for the

charter rental with a $660 money order that she purchased with

cash. Petitioner did not submit any further documentation in

support of her claimed deduction of the charter bus rental fees.

3The Muhammad Ali Youth Football and Cheerleaders League is

not listed as a qualified organization for which a taxpayer may

claim a charitable contribution deduction under sec. 170. 

However, the Muhammad Ali Yellowjackets, Inc., is an organization

in the Louisville, Kentucky, area for which a taxpayer may claim

a charitable contribution deduction for qualifying contributions

under sec. 170.
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Petitioner provided several receipts that she testified

represent unreimbursed expenses she incurred in providing for a

cheerleading team party during 2006. The receipts indicate that

petitioner made purchases of $30.16 for pizza, $2.07 for

stickers, $31.78 for ribbons, $6.36 for office supplies, and

$91.90 for party supplies. 

Petitioner also claimed a deduction for unreimbursed mileage

expenses for her and her ex-husband’s travel to and from team

practices and games. Petitioner coached the cheerleading team,

and her ex-husband coached the football team. At trial

petitioner produced a Mapquest driving directions printout that

details the miles driven between her home and the practice field

for the team’s practices and games. The printout indicates that

petitioner and her ex-husband each drove to and from the practice

field four times a week for a period of 18 weeks and traveled

1,857.6 miles on account of team practices and games in

connection with their volunteer activities during 2006. 

Discussion

Generally, the Commissioner’s determinations are presumed

correct, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving that those

determinations are erroneous. Rule 142(a); Welch v. Helvering,

290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933). Deductions are a matter of legislative

grace, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving entitlement

to any deduction claimed. Rule 142(a); New Colonial Ice Co. v.
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Helvering, 292 U.S. 435, 440 (1934). These rules apply to

deductions claimed for charitable contributions. See Davis v.

Commissioner, 81 T.C. 806, 815 (1983), affd. without published

opinion 767 F.2d 931 (9th Cir. 1985).

Section 170(a) allows a deduction for charitable

contributions for which payment is made during the taxable year

if verified as provided in the regulations. The term “charitable

contribution” includes a contribution or gift to a corporation,

trust, or community chest, fund, or foundation, with certain

conditions. Sec. 170(c)(2). Section 1.170A-1(g), Income Tax

Regs., provides that a taxpayer may deduct unreimbursed

expenditures as a charitable contribution if they are made

incident to the taxpayer’s rendering services for a charity.

In order to claim a deduction for a charitable contribution,

a taxpayer must establish that a gift was made to a qualified

entity organized and operated exclusively for an exempt purpose,

no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any

private individual. Sec. 170(c)(2); McGahen v. Commissioner, 76

T.C. 468, 481 482 (1981), affd. without published opinion 720

F.2d 664 (3d Cir. 1983). Qualified entities under section 170

are generally organizations that qualify for an exemption under

section 501(c)(3). See Dew v. Commissioner, 91 T.C. 615, 623-624

(1988); Taylor v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-17.
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The Internal Revenue Service maintains a list of

organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable

contributions in Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations

described in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

which is available at http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/. Petitioner

testified that she volunteered as a cheerleading coach for the

Muhammad Ali Youth Football and Cheerleaders League, which is not

listed in Publication 78 as an organization that is eligible to

receive tax deductible charitable contributions. However, the

Muhammad Ali Youth Football and Cheerleaders League is not the

group named on the charter bus confirmation that petitioner

submitted in support of her claimed deduction. Instead, the

charter confirmation form names the Yellow Jackets Cheerleaders

as the group. According to Publication 78, the Muhammad Ali

Yellowjackets, Inc., is a qualified organization that was formed

in Kentucky. Given the similarities of the group names and the

location of the groups within the Commonwealth of Kentucky, it

appears that petitioner confused the organization’s name while

testifying. Given that her testimony was reasonable and that she

has provided reliable evidence of the group’s actual name, we

find that petitioner’s activities were services to the Muhammad

Ali Yellowjackets, Inc. We must now decide whether petitioner

has met her burden of substantiating that her expenditures are
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deductible. See Rule 142(a); Davis v. Commissioner, supra at

815.

I. The Charter Bus Rental

Section 170(a)(1) allows a deduction for a charitable

contribution as defined in section 170(c) if verified under

applicable regulations. Generally, an unreimbursed volunteer

expenditure can be substantiated by (1) a canceled check, (2) a

receipt from the donee organization, or (3) other reliable

written records showing the name of the donee, the date of the

contribution, and the amount of the contribution. Van Dusen v.

Commissioner, 136 T.C. __, __ (2011) (slip op. at 31); sec.

1.170A-13(a)(1), Income Tax Regs. However, for a contribution of

$250 or more, a taxpayer must substantiate the contribution with

a written acknowledgment from the donee organization. Sec.

170(f)(8)(A). A taxpayer who incurs unreimbursed expenses

“incident to the rendition of services” is treated as having

obtained a written acknowledgment if the taxpayer: (1) “Has

adequate records under * * * [section 1.170A-13(a), Income Tax

Regs.,] to substantiate the amount of the expenditures”, and (2)

acquires a contemporaneous statement from the donee organization

containing: (A) A description of the services provided by the

taxpayer; (B) a statement of whether the donee organization

provides any goods or services in consideration, in whole or in
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part, for the unreimbursed expenditures; and (C) [a description

and good faith estimate of the value of any goods or services 

provided by the donee organization]. Sec. 1.170A-13(f)(10),

Income Tax Regs. 

Petitioner contends that she is entitled to a deduction for

a $660 contribution she made in order to fund the cheerleading

group’s bus rental. In support petitioner provided a charter

confirmation form and a money order receipt. However, because

petitioner’s contribution was for an amount greater than $250,

she is required to substantiate it by producing a written

acknowledgment from the donee organization. See sec.

170(f)(8)(A); see also sec. 1.170A-13(f)(10), Income Tax Regs. 

Petitioner has failed to present any form of written

acknowledgment from the donee organization relating to her

contribution. As a result, petitioner’s contribution of the $660

charter bus rental fee is not deductible under section 170 as a

charitable contribution. See sec. 170(f)(8)(A).

II. Party Supplies

Petitioner also contends that she is entitled to deductions

totaling $162.27 for unreimbursed volunteer expenses she incurred

while providing the cheerleaders with a team party. In support,

petitioner provided receipts from the various vendors from which

she purchased the party supplies. The receipts bear petitioner’s

handwritten notations of either “Cheerleader Donation” or “Office
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Supplies & Cheerleaders”, and the items purchased are consistent

with those one might purchase in preparation for a children’s

party. The documents indicate the purchases were made during

November 2006.

Unreimbursed volunteer expenses of less than $250 are

governed by section 1.170A-13(a), Income Tax Regs. Van Dusen v.

Commissioner, supra at __ (slip op. at 27). That regulation

provides that a contribution can be substantiated by (1) a

canceled check, (2) a receipt from the donee organization, or (3)

“other reliable written records” showing the name of the donee,

the date of the contribution, and the amount of the contribution. 

Sec. 1.170A-13(a)(1), Income Tax Regs. Petitioner has not

provided a canceled check or a receipt from the donee

organization regarding her contribution and, consequently, is

required to offer “other reliable written records” in order to

substantiate her claimed deductions. Section 1.170A13(a)(1)(iii), Income Tax Regs., defines “other reliable written

records” as records that show “the name of the donee, the date of

the contribution, and the amount of the contribution.” Strictly

speaking, petitioner’s documents do not meet the requirements of

section 1.170A-13(a)(1)(iii), Income Tax Regs., because the

receipts do not show the name of the donee organization. 

Instead, they show the names of the entities that petitioner paid

on behalf of the donee organization. However, petitioner’s
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documents are sufficient to substantially comply with section

1.170A-13(a)(1), Income Tax Regs. See Van Dusen v. Commissioner,

supra at __ (slip op. at 32). Section 1.170A-13(a)(1), Income

Tax Regs., allows a taxpayer to rely on canceled checks to record

contributions of money made to a donee organization. Van Dusen

v. Commissioner, supra at __ (slip op. at 33). We find that

petitioner’s documents are legitimate substitutes for canceled

checks because they contain all of the pertinent information that

would have appeared on a canceled check. See id. at __ (slip op.

at 33-34). The receipts show the names of the payees, the dates

of the payments, and the amounts of the payments. Like

petitioner’s records, a canceled check from a volunteer would

generally reflect the name of the payee and not the name of the

charitable organization to which the volunteer’s services were

rendered. Therefore, we find that petitioner has substantially

complied with the requirements of section 1.170A-13(a)(1), Income

Tax Regs. We hold that petitioner is entitled to deduct $162.27

for contributions made on behalf of the donee organization to

fund a team party. 

III. Automobile Mileage

Petitioner contends that she is entitled to a deduction for

automobile mileage expenses associated with her and her ex-
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husband’s travel to and from team practices and games.4 In

support petitioner produced a Mapquest directions printout. The

printout details the number of miles that she and her ex-husband

traveled over the course of a season while driving to and from

team practices and games. The printout provides detailed

information, including: (1) The distance for each trip taken;

(2) the number of trips taken per week; and (3) the number of

weeks during which the trips took place.

Section 1.170A-1(g), Income Tax Regs., provides that a

taxpayer may deduct unreimbursed expenditures made incident to

the taxpayer’s rendering services for a charity. The regulation

further provides that out-of-pocket transportation expenses

necessarily incurred while rendering services to the charity are

also deductible. Id. As previously stated, a taxpayer’s

contribution can be substantiated by (1) a canceled check, (2) a

receipt from the donee organization, or (3) other reliable

written records showing the name of the donee, the date of the

contribution, and the amount of the contribution. Sec. 1.170A13(a)(1), Income Tax Regs. 

The documentation petitioner provided is not a canceled

check or a receipt. Therefore, in order for the printout to

support petitioner’s mileage expense deduction, it must qualify

4Petitioner did not specify a dollar amount she is entitled

to deduct with respect to her mileage expenses.
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as “other reliable written records” under section 1.170A13(a)(1), Income Tax Regs. 

Section 1.170A-13(a)(2), Income Tax Regs., provides that the

reliability of “other reliable written records” is determined on

the basis of all of the facts and circumstances of a particular 

case. On the basis of our consideration of all the facts and

circumstances of this case, we find that the evidence petitioner

supplied is sufficient to qualify as “other reliable written

records”. The standard mileage rate for computing the deduction

for the use of a passenger automobile driven in connection with

rendering services to a charitable organization is 14 cents per

mile for years beginning after December 31, 1997. See sec.

170(i); see also Rev. Proc. 97-58, 1997-2 C.B. 587. As a result,

petitioner is entitled to a deduction of 14 cents per mile for

the 1,857.6 miles she and her ex-husband traveled to and from

team practices and games during 2006.

To reflect the foregoing,

Decision will be entered

under Rule 155.