At least in the US, a contribution in kind (like computer time) to a Not-for-Profit educational institution [501(c)3 for those who want to get technical, is 100% tax-deductible to itemizers.

UNDER The old SETI CPU time system, life was easy. Time from <any computer> is worth a minimum of <power and a tiny % of value of computer and some determination (to be made by a knowledgable accountant) on the value of say, 100 hrs of CPU time on a 1/4 MFLOP '386, worth far less than 100 hrs on a ? Gigaflop 80(5)86++ or whatever you want to call your Pent'athalon Mark Whatever, which of course, drops every year as the value of a GIGAFLOP falls to near 0)

Under the Cobblestone insanity, I cannot even get a total of real CPU time used per machine to compute the power use value of my donation.

Could someone come up with a totalizer for BOINC's record keeper by April 12th at the latest???

Seriously - I believe in paying my taxes - and voting for pols who spend the money the way "I" want to see it spent, I know, more of a Canadian NDC attitude than a US Republican one, but running a government costs money and we do get services in return - good ones if the guys running things do a good job.

But my fair share of taxes is determined by the US Code, which allows me to say "I gave this much for scientific research that you should have" and deduct it. IF I CAN PROVE I DID IT!

I hate to tell you, but donating your computer time is not deductible on your taxes, and claiming so can get you in trouble. Your accountant needs to look up the tax codes a little better.

And please, before responding and arguing that I don't know what I'm talking about, at least do some extensive research before you label me a moron.

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Get the add-on BOINCLogX and open the csv file it makes in a spreadsheet, the time taken col is named CPU. It tells you tons and tons more but you could delete the non-required cols and save as 'another name'

OzzFan is correct. I checked with my accountant and the volunteering of your hardware to science applications is non-tax deductible in the US. So your last several years taxes are wrong, and if you are ever audited be aware that you will pay some hefty fines.

(I hope someone from the IRS is not reading this thread, and deciding to flag your account.)

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My movie https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/502242

OzzFan is correct. I checked with my accountant and the volunteering of your hardware to science applications is non-tax deductible in the US. So your last several years taxes are wrong, and if you are ever audited be aware that you will pay some hefty fines.

(I hope someone from the IRS is not reading this thread, and deciding to flag your account.)

How about the cost of the electricity spent running the computer? That's a concrete cost that can be determined by the average crunch time per cobblestone compared to the wattage on the power supply, and then compare that to your electric bill. It's even easier if you run the system nearly 24/7, as I do. I haven't put it to the test, but I'm having my taxes done next year, and I'll be talking to my preparer about it after getting my documentation in order. It doesn't speak to the depreciation of the machine, but that doesn't really scan anyway.

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How about the cost of the electricity spent running the computer? That's a concrete cost that can be determined by the average crunch time per cobblestone compared to the wattage on the power supply, and then compare that to your electric bill. It's even easier if you run the system nearly 24/7, as I do. I haven't put it to the test, but I'm having my taxes done next year, and I'll be talking to my preparer about it after getting my documentation in order. It doesn't speak to the depreciation of the machine, but that doesn't really scan anyway.

The actual provision that states your computer time is not tax deductible doesn't discern whether you have a measureable depreciation on your computer nor the fact that you are running up your eletric bill.

It has to do with the fact that you are actually donating the time of your own volition. Similiar to how you cannot claim your labor if you ever work for a homeless shelter by donating your own time. You know that by running your computer all the time will raise your electric bill, and you know by running the program you are stressing your components all the time as well, but this is by choice and thus, not deductible.

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It has to do with the fact that you are actually donating the time of your own volition. ...
... but this is by choice and thus, not deductible.

he he.. ok .. not deductible, but the reason you give is funny, by your own logic, nobody should ever give money to charities, cause its 'by choice' ...
'and thus not deductible'.

I do believe that to be deductible, SAH's management would have to be giving receipt, 'and be recognized right to do so, but im not american

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It has to do with the fact that you are actually donating the time of your own volition. ...
... but this is by choice and thus, not deductible.

he he.. ok .. not deductible, but the reason you give is funny, by your own logic, nobody should ever give money to charities, cause its 'by choice' ...
'and thus not deductible'.
I do believe that to be deductible, SAH's management would have to be giving receipt, 'and be recognized right to do so, but im not american

Actually to be deductible the Charity has to be setup to receive them that way. Seti is not setup that way, the Red Cross, Red Crescent, UNICEF, IRW, are setup that way, there are many, many others.

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It has to do with the fact that you are actually donating the time of your own volition. ...
... but this is by choice and thus, not deductible.

he he.. ok .. not deductible, but the reason you give is funny, by your own logic, nobody should ever give money to charities, cause its 'by choice' ...
'and thus not deductible'.

I do believe that to be deductible, SAH's management would have to be giving receipt, 'and be recognized right to do so, but im not american

8-) Yeah, ok, so I didn't explain that one right. LOL But at least the bottom line information is accurate - SETI is not tax deductible. ;)

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...the bottom line information is accurate - SETI is not tax deductible. ;)

from the "donate" page

Q: Is my donation tax deductible?
A: If you are in the United States, your donation is tax-deductible. The University of California is a nonprofit educational and research organization governed by the provisions of Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The University's Federal Identification number for reporting and tax purposes is 94-6002123.

so... who's spreading misinformation?

i would think that deducting the cost of electricity would be perfectly reasonable, depreciating your computer would probably not work due to you already losing value from the always dropping prices

...the bottom line information is accurate - SETI is not tax deductible. ;)

from the "donate" page

Q: Is my donation tax deductible?
A: If you are in the United States, your donation is tax-deductible. The University of California is a nonprofit educational and research organization governed by the provisions of Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The University's Federal Identification number for reporting and tax purposes is 94-6002123.

so... who's spreading misinformation?

i would think that deducting the cost of electricity would be perfectly reasonable, depreciating your computer would probably not work due to you already losing value from the always dropping prices

I don't believe the cost of electricity for BOINC is deductable, but you should ask a tax professional (and I am perfectly willing to admit that i am NOT a tax expert).

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BOINC WIKI

Q: Is my donation tax deductible?

Yes, your cash donation is. Your physical computer working on the projects are not. I sat with a tax accountant for over a half hour explaining this, and it was determined that my computer use is not in any form tax deductible, nor is the electricity I use for this.

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My movie https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/502242

so... who's spreading misinformation?

i would think that deducting the cost of electricity would be perfectly reasonable, depreciating your computer would probably not work due to you already losing value from the always dropping prices

You need to be careful when assuming that just because the cash donation is tax deductible that somehow means your electricity is. This is in fact, not true. You took my one line and quoted it, but it was entirely out of context. I was not saying that cash donations are not tax deductible. If one read the whole thread and not took what I said out of context, they would understand this fact.

My good friend, who is a professional tax accountant, pretty much said that the electricity is a true donation that is non-quantifiable (or something to that effect), not that you cannot actually calculate up the cost, but that it's the same as donating your time at a homeless shelter and then trying to claim it as a donation on your taxes.

It simply does not work that way. If you do not feel safe taking any advice in the thread, then I would suggest, as JM7 has, that you should ask your tax advisor and they will be able to explain it to you better than we can (short of asking my friend to post here in the forums, which I don't think she's willing to do).

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