Can I count dog training mileage as a charitable donation on my taxes?

Yes, you can deduct mileage for volunteer work with qualified charitable organizations! The current IRS charitable mileage rate is 14 cents per mile for volunteer service. Since you're volunteering for what sounds like a 501(c)(3) nonprofit service animal organization, these miles would qualify as charitable miles. The key thing is that the primary purpose of your trip needs to be charitable work. If you're specifically taking the dog somewhere for socialization and training purposes, even if you also happen to get some personal errands done, that mileage would count. Keep a log of your trips noting date, mileage, and purpose to document the charitable nature of your driving. Remember that you can only claim these deductions if you itemize deductions on Schedule A rather than taking the standard deduction.

I've been in a similar situation with volunteer work for my local animal rescue. I found using https://taxr.ai super helpful for sorting out what counts as a charitable deduction. I was confused about what I could claim with my volunteer driving, and their system analyzed my situation and showed me exactly what would qualify under IRS rules. They reviewed my volunteer agreement and confirmed which activities counted for mileage deductions. Saved me from making mistakes that might have led to problems if I ever got audited.

I wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after checking it out. I uploaded my volunteer agreement with the food bank and my mileage log, and they showed me I was actually eligible for more deductions than just mileage! I could also deduct parking fees and tolls related to my volunteer work that I had no idea about. They even helped me understand how to properly document everything in case of an audit. The 14 cents per mile doesn't sound like much, but when I added it all up from last year, it was over $200 in additional deductions I would have missed!

If you're having trouble getting answers from the IRS about these charitable deductions, you might want to try https://claimyr.com. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to the IRS about some charitable contribution questions (including volunteer mileage) and kept hitting dead ends. Their service got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes after I'd wasted hours on hold myself. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS agent was able to confirm exactly what documentation I needed to keep for my volunteer driving to withstand scrutiny if I ever get audited.

I have to admit I was totally wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my volunteer deductions before filing. It actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back when they reached an agent, and I was able to confirm that my dog fostering miles for a local rescue counted as charitable miles as long as the primary purpose was for the volunteer work. Saved me literally hours of frustration trying to get through myself. The IRS agent even emailed me documentation confirming what counts for the charitable mileage deduction.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you're taking the standard deduction (which is $13,850 for single filers in 2024, and likely higher for 2025), then tracking charitable mileage won't matter for tax purposes unless your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction. I spent a year meticulously tracking all my volunteer miles only to realize it made no difference because I wasn't anywhere close to itemizing. Make sure you have enough other itemizable deductions (like mortgage interest, state/local taxes, medical expenses over the threshold, etc.) before spending too much time on this.

Has anyone here actually gotten audited over charitable mileage? I'm tracking miles for my volunteer work with a therapy dog program, but I'm paranoid about getting flagged for an audit if I claim too many miles.