STEWART COPELAND

For those who were waiting on tax deduction info for this concert: the letters are being mailed. I received mine today. Keep an eye out for it because it doesn't say PBS on the front; it is from Educational Broadcasting Corporation. The Channel 13 and Channel 21 logos are on the back.

This is exactly what it says:

"Thank you for your donation of $750 to Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 which included 2 tickets to The Police's final concert on August 7, 2008. The tax-deductible portion of your contribution is $250."

It goes on for two more paragraphs thanking me, etc.

Now, my commentary:
It's a low percentage, IMHO. But don't blame Sting. Rainforest Foundation concerts have about 90% of the ticket price as a tax deduction. Just want to get that out of the way.

probably better to have it lower.
The IRS is really cracking down on charity donations(too many abuses with people donating old cars and infalting the value)
250 is safe, will save you 25-50 bucks in taxes.

Believe me, I am a nutter and a tax preparer!

Personally I don't care as it often works out (and prevents audits) for me to not itemize. I don't work enough at home to go that route, etc.
But some people do like to know this stuff for tax purposes and quite frankly I was surprised the figure wasn't higher (because then where did the other $500 go?!)

Thanks for the info, Susan. It may not be much, but I'll take what I can get.

Well, look at it this way: Two tix to any of the other Police concerts would have run you about $500 before Ticketbastard fees (and the taxes on the fees, and the excise charges for the taxes on the fees...etc )

So if two tix were about $750, then after the tax deduction the band gets what it would have gotten for any other show.

Now. I'm sure our boys did fine the last year or two. But we also gotta remember how much it costs to book those venues, pay all the staff, not to mention the roadies and crew...And the insurance. Heavens to mergatroid.

*bump for the US tax season*

Erm. Could anyone give a rough estimate of what PBS made on each ticket? Guess it works differently over here, but a charitable donation isn't tax deductable to the tax payer, since the beneficiary can claim back the tax the donor paid on the donation, at the tax rate that the donor was charged on the income from which thay made the donation.

(Oh holy crap - why does any sentence involving taxation end up unparsable, and barely recogniseable las human anguage?)

[quote="smudge"]Erm. Could anyone give a rough estimate of what PBS made on each ticket? Guess it works differently over here, but a charitable donation isn't tax deductable to the tax payer, since the beneficiary can claim back the tax the donor paid on the donation, at the tax rate that the donor was charged on the income from which thay made the donation.

(Oh holy crap - why does any sentence involving taxation end up unparsable, and barely recogniseable las human anguage?)[/quote]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s-oGumv ... re=related

Generally, the rule for deductions on monies paid for attendance at a charitable event is that anything over the fair market value can be claimed. Since The Police performed several times at the Garden during Tourzilla, PBS really couldn't advise donors to claim anything more than the $250 above what was determined as face value for similar seats at similar show. So Dive is right.

The Rainforest benefit, as a one off event, can play a little more loose with the figures, since there is no identical show to which it can be compared. Although, frankly, I think they are being a bit risky with the 90% figure. I doubt it would hold up to close scrutiny.