Code of Federal Regulations · Section

§ 1.170A-2 — a-2 Amounts Paid To Maintain Certain Students As Members Of The Taxpayer's Household

26 C.F.R. § 1.170A-2

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(a) In general. (1) The term charitable contributions includes amounts paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year to maintain certain students as members of his household which, under the provisions of section 170(h) and this section, are treated as amounts paid for the use of an organization described in section 170(c) (2), (3), or (4), and such amounts, to the extent they do not exceed the limitations under section 170(h)(2) and paragraph (b) of this section, are contributions deductible under section 170. In order for such amounts to be so treated, the student must be an individual who is neither a dependent (as defined in section 152) of the taxpayer nor related to the taxpayer in a manner described in any of the paragraphs (1) through (8) of section 152(a), and such individual must be a member of the taxpayer's household pursuant to a written agreement between the taxpayer and an organization described in section 170(c) (2), (3), or (4) to implement a program of the organization to provide educational opportunities for pupils or students placed in private homes by such organization. Furthermore, such amounts must be paid to maintain such individual during the period in the taxable year he is a member of the taxpayer's household and is a full-time pupil or student in the 12th or any lower grade at an educational institution, as defined in section 151(e)(4) and § 1.151-3, located in the United States. Amounts paid outside of such period, but within the taxable year, for expenses necessary for the maintenance of the student during the period will qualify for the charitable contributions deduction if the other limitation requirements of the section are met.

(2) For purposes of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, amounts treated as charitable contributions include only those amounts actually paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year which are directly attributable to the maintenance of the student while he is a member of the taxpayer's household and is attending an educational institution on a full-time basis. This would include amounts paid to insure the well-being of the individual and to carry out the purpose for which the individual was placed in the taxpayer's home. For example, a deduction under section 170 would be allowed for amounts paid for books, tuition, food, clothing, transportation, medical and dental care, and recreation for the individual. Amounts treated as charitable contributions under this section do not include amounts which the taxpayer would have expended had the student not been in the household. They would not include, for example, amounts paid in connection with the taxpayer's home for taxes, insurance, interest on a mortgage, repairs, etc. Moreover, such amounts do not include any depreciation sustained by the taxpayer in maintaining such student or students in his household, nor do they include the value of any services rendered on behalf of such student or students by the taxpayer or any member of the taxpayer's household.

(3) For purposes of section 170(h) and this section, an individual will be considered to be a full-time pupil or student at an educational institution only if he is enrolled for a course of study prescribed for a full-time student at such institution and is attending classes on a full-time basis. Nevertheless, such individual may be absent from school due to special circumstances and still be considered to be in full-time attendance. Periods during the regular school term when the school is closed for holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, and for periods between semesters are treated as periods during which the pupil or student is in full-time attendance at the school. Also, absences during the regular school term due to illness of such individual shall not prevent him from being considered as a full-time pupil or student. Similarly, absences from the taxpayer's household due to special circumstances will not disqualify the student as a member of the household. Summer vacations between regular school terms are not considered periods of school attendance.

(4) When claiming a deduction for amounts described in section 170(h) and this section, the taxpayer must submit with his return a copy of his agreement with the organization sponsoring the individual placed in the taxpayer's household, together with a summary of the various items for which amounts were paid to maintain such individual, and a statement as to the date the individual became a member of the household and the period of his full-time attendance at school and the name and location of such school. Substantiation of amounts claimed must be supported by adequate records of the amounts actually paid. Due to the nature of certain items, such as food, a record of amount spent for all members of the household, with an equal portion thereof allocated to each member, will be acceptable.

(b) Limitations. Section 170(h) and this section shall apply to amounts paid during the taxable year only to the extent that the amounts paid in maintaining each pupil or student do not exceed $50 multiplied by the number of full calendar months in the taxable year that the pupil or student is maintained in accordance with the provisions of this section. For purposes of such limitation if 15 or more days of a calendar month fall within the period to which the maintenance of such pupil or student relates, such month is considered as a full calendar month. To the extent that such amounts qualify as charitable contributions under section 170(c), the aggregate of such amounts plus other contributions made during the taxable year for the use of an organization described in section 170(c) is deductible under section 170 subject to the limitation provided in section 170(b)(1)(B) and paragraph (c) of § 1.170A-8.

(c) Compensation or reimbursement. Amounts paid during the taxable year to maintain a pupil or student as a member of the taxpayer's household as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, shall not be taken into account under section 170(h) and this section, if the taxpayer receives any money or other property as compensation or reimbursement for any portion of such amounts. The taxpayer will not be denied the benefits of section 170(h) if he prepays an extraordinary or nonrecurring expense such as a hospital bill or vacation trip, at the request of the individual's parents or the sponsoring organization and is reimbursed for such prepayment. The value of services performed by the pupil or student in attending to ordinary chores of the household will generally not be considered to constitute compensation or reimbursement. However, if the pupil or student is taken into the taxpayer's household to replace a former employee of the taxpayer or gratuitously to perform substantial services for the taxpayer, the facts and circumstances may warrant a conclusion that the taxpayer received reimbursement for maintaining the pupil or student.

(d) No other amount allowed as deduction. Except to the extent that amounts described in section 170(h) and this section are treated as charitable contributions under section 170(c) and, therefore, deductible under section 170(a), no deduction is allowed for any amount paid to maintain an individual, as a member of the taxpayer's household, in accordance with the provisions of section 170(h) and this section.

(e) Illustrations. The application of this section may be illustrated by the following examples:

The X organization is an organization described in section 170(c)(2) and is engaged in a program under which a number of European children are placed in the homes of U.S. residents in order to further the children's high school education. In accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, the taxpayer, A, who reports his income on the calendar year basis, agreed with X to take two of the children, and they were placed in the taxpayer's home on January 2, 1970, where they remained until January 21, 1971, during which time they were fully maintained by the taxpayer. The children enrolled at the local high school for the full course of study prescribed for 10th grade students and attended the school on a full-time basis for the spring semester starting January 18, 1970, and ending June 3, 1970, and for the fall semester starting September 1, 1970, and ending January 13, 1971. The total cost of food paid by A in 1970 for himself, his wife, and the two children amounted to $1,920, or $40 per month for each member of the household. Since the children were actually full-time students for only 8

1/2 months during 1970, the amount paid for food for each child during that period amounted to $340. Other amounts paid during the 8 1/2-month period for each child for laundry, lights, water, recreation, and school supplies amounted to $160. Thus, the amounts treated under section 170(h) and this section as paid for the use of X would, with respect to each child, total $500 ($340 + $160), or a total for both children of $1,000, subject to the limitations of paragraph (b) of this section. Since, for purposes of such limitations, the children were full-time students for only 8 full calendar months during 1970 (less than 15 days in January 1970), the taxpayer may treat only $800 as a charitable contribution made in 1970, that is, $50 multiplied by the 8 full calendar months, or $400 paid for the maintenance of each child. Neither the excess payments nor amounts paid to maintain the children during the period before school opened and for the period in summer between regular school terms is taken into account by reason of section 170(h). Also, because the children were full-time students for less than 15 days in January 1971 (although maintained in the taxpayer's household for 21 days), amounts paid to maintain the children during 1971 would not qualify as a charitable contribution.

A religious organization described in section 170(c)(2) has a program for providing educational opportunities for children it places in private homes. In order to implement the program, the taxpayer, H, who resides with his wife, son, and daughter of high school age in a town in the United States, signs an agreement with the organization to maintain a girl sponsored by the organization as a member of his household while the child attends the local high school for the regular 1970-71 school year. The child is a full-time student at the school during the school year starting September 6, 1970, and ending June 6, 1971, and is a member of the taxpayer's household during that period. Although the taxpayer pays $200 during the school period falling in 1970, and $240 during the school period falling in 1971, to maintain the child, he cannot claim either amount as a charitable contribution because the child's parents, from time to time during the school year, send butter, eggs, meat, and vegetables to H to help defray the expenses of maintaining the child. This is considered property received as reimbursement under paragraph (c) of this section. Had her parents not contributed the food, the fact that the child, in addition to the normal chores she shared with the taxpayer's daughter, such as cleaning their own rooms and helping with the shopping and cooking, was responsible for the family laundry and for the heavy cleaning of the entire house while the taxpayer's daughter had no comparable responsibilities would also preclude a claim for a charitable contributions deduction. These substantial gratuitous services are considered property received as reimbursement under paragraph (c) of this section.

A taxpayer resides with his wife in a city in the eastern United States. He agrees, in writing, with a fraternal society described in section 170(c)(4) to accept a child selected by the society for maintenance by him as a member of his household during 1971 in order that the child may attend the local grammar school as a part of the society's program to provide elementary education for certain children selected by it. The taxpayer maintains the child, who has as his principal place of abode the home of the taxpayer, and is a member of the taxpayer's household, during the entire year 1971. The child is a full-time student at the local grammar school for 9 full calendar months during the year. Under the agreement, the society pays the taxpayer $30 per month to help maintain the child. Since the $30 per month is considered as compensation or reimbursement to the taxpayer for some portion of the maintenance paid on behalf of the child, no amounts paid with respect to such maintenance can be treated as amounts paid in accordance with section 170(h). In the absence of the $30 per month payments, if the child qualifies as a dependent of the taxpayer under section 152(a)(9), that fact would also prevent the maintenance payments from being treated as charitable contributions paid for the use of the fraternal society.

(f) Effective date. This section applies only to contributions paid in taxable years beginning after December 31, 1969.

26 C.F.R. § 1.170A-18 26 C.F.R. § 1.170A-3

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