On 2019-11-24 14:16, Wm via gnucash-user wrote: > Heh, don't know if you've been contributing a lot Kevin but you are way > ahead of Art in working this out. The answer is, of course, that this > is a local and national tax issue rather than an accounting issue.
No, I don't think "instead of" is right. It is a tax issue (which the OP didn't ask about, but several of us have addressed it anyway) and an accounting issue, both. It is unfortunately true that computations of tax do not always use the same rules as ordinary accounting. > I buy a can of tomatoes > is that an expense or an increase in assets? > I suggest an expense for most people unless you are buying crates of > the stuff for trade, etc. And as I mentioned, in the US -- remember that the OP asked specifically about the US -- there are special rules for inventory. However, from the general tone of the OP's question it doesn't seem that he's looking to donate goods that he originally purchased with the intention of reselling them. > If I have given the gift *in order* to alter my tax profile i think > the tax lady would say you were a naughty person. Emphatically, no. I don't know how it is in other countries, but in the US, a long time ago, our Supreme Court made a distinction between tax avoidance (legal) and tax evasion (illegal). Tax avoidance is arranging your affairs so as to minimize your tax liability. Making a charitable gift in order to alter your tax situation is 100% legal tax avoidance, at least in the US. > If I have gifted the can of toms in the same way that I would have > eaten them (I bought two cans and gave one to a poor person) then it > shouldn't be recorded at all [1] Giving something "to a poor person" is not a charitable donation under US law: the IRS Web page I already cited says that gifts to individuals are not deductible donations. Giving that same can of tomatoes to a soup kitchen or similar _is_ a charitable donation. Or more specifically, it is if the soup kitchen is registered as a charity. -- Regards, Stan Brown Tompkins County, New York, USA https://BrownMath.com http://OakRoadSystems.com _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list [email protected] To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
