On Wed, 14 May 1997, Robb Hyde wrote:

> When this ruling came out a few years back, we received an
> (what I think may have been a very conservative) opinion that with
> admissions, newsletters, mailings, receptions and shop discounts,
> essentially none of tour individual or family membership fees were tax
> deductible.

Robb is referring to a 1993 law that requires charities to inform donors
of the value of benefits received in exchange for gifts, such as
membership programs.  The IRS has held since at least 1967 that the
deductibility of gifts must be reduced by the value of benefits received;
the 1993 law is basically an enforcement mechanism, not a change in policy.

Since the 1993 law came into force, the IRS has issued temporary and
then, last December, permanent regulations that actually allow quite a
bit of leeway for ignoring certain kinds of benefits.  In most cases, for
example, newsletters can be ignored because they have no market value.
(It costs money to publish them, but that's not the same thing as saying
that they have a market value.)  Also, many admission and shop discount
programs may be ignored under some circumstance.

Please feel free to contact me with specific questions.

Andy Finch
AAM Government Affairs
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