# When stores donate charity money collected from customers, do they take a tax deduction?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-stores-donate-charity-money-collected-from-customers-do-they-take-a-tax-deduction/776821>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 10, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-stores-donate-charity-money-collected-from-customers-do-they-take-a-tax-deduction/776821 "2017-01-10T17:00:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-stores-donate-charity-money-collected-from-customers-do-they-take-a-tax-deduction/776821/21 "2017-01-12T18:53:11Z")

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> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Many companies have been blasted for doing this sort of thing on business transactions–not charitable contributions, but other types. For example, [Travelco.com](http://Travelco.com) acts as an agent when you buy a BigAir plane ticket. It’s a wash for Travelco but they show it on their financial statements as gross as principal, vs. net as an agent. But it’s not a true picture of their revenue at all. It was never really their money to begin with.
> 
> I would think you have the same issue with treating charitable pass-through as gross revenue, even if you expense it on the back end.

That gets to the issue of agency transactions I alluded to but didn’t discuss thoroughly in post 11. Honestly, I’m no expert in agency transactions. I believe in the end though it winds up in the same place – no effect on net income or net assets for the store.

This would be a bigger issue if the difference between agency transaction treatment and the method I described above were material. I doubt that the charity contributions raised from customers is ever material for the stores doing these point-of-sale solicitations.

[QUOTE=filmore]  
From a practical standpoint, how do stores manage the donated money when customers put cash in a special container for the charity? Stores like 7-11 and McDonalds will have special containers for customers to donate their change at the register. How do they make sure all that physical cash ends up going to the charity?  
[/QUOTE]

We had a recent thread dealing with that question.

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19672988](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19672988)

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