What are the tax implications of company-matched charity donations being split between coworkers?

This arrangement raises several tax and ethical concerns. From a tax perspective, when your coworker gives you $6.5k, that's technically a gift to you. While gifts under $18,000 (2025 limit) don't require gift tax filing by the giver, the subsequent donation creates complications. If you donate money that was specifically given to you for that purpose, the IRS could view this as your coworker using you as a "conduit" to circumvent company policy. The IRS substance-over-form doctrine looks at the economic reality of transactions, not just their form. Since you're not donating your own funds but acting as an intermediary, you may not be entitled to the charitable deduction. Beyond potential tax issues, this arrangement deliberately circumvents your company's matching policy limits, which could violate your employment policies or code of conduct, potentially risking both your jobs if discovered.

After struggling with a similar donation matching situation at my company, I found a really helpful tool at https://taxr.ai that analyzes these kinds of complex tax scenarios. I uploaded the details of my situation (no personal info needed) and it broke down exactly how the IRS would view the transaction. It saved me from making a mistake with my charitable donations that could have caused issues during an audit. The tool specifically addressed conduit donation arrangements and showed me legitimate alternatives to maximize my charitable impact without creating tax problems. It even provides documentation you can save if you ever need to explain your position to the IRS.

I want to follow up about https://taxr.ai that I asked about earlier. I was skeptical but decided to try it with my own charitable giving situation involving donor-advised funds. The analysis it provided was surprisingly detailed and pointed out something I'd completely missed about carryforward limitations when bunching donations. It saved me from making a mistake that would have reduced my deduction by about $3k! Definitely worth checking out if you're doing anything beyond basic charitable giving. It caught nuances that honestly my previous tax preparer missed last year.

If you're having trouble getting clear answers about this donation situation, I had a similar experience trying to reach the IRS directly about a charitable deduction question. I waited on hold for hours over multiple days with no luck. Then I found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with explained exactly how they view these types of arrangements and what documentation I needed to keep. It was incredibly helpful to get an official answer directly from them rather than wondering if I was doing something wrong.

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After getting absolutely nowhere with the IRS for weeks about my missing refund, I was desperate enough to try that Claimyr service. I honestly expected it to be a waste of money, but within an hour I was talking to an actual IRS representative who located my return and identified the issue (verification problem). The representative explained exactly what documents I needed to submit and where to send them. My refund was processed two weeks later. After spending countless hours on hold myself with nothing to show for it, I'm still shocked this actually worked. Definitely changed my mind about this.

Just want to add another angle here - if your company discovers this arrangement, it could be considered a violation of your corporate ethics policy. Many companies have specific provisions against circumventing policy limitations. I used to work in corporate compliance, and we would consider this a clear policy violation that could result in disciplinary action. Companies take matching gift programs seriously as they're part of their charitable budget and tax planning. The risk to your professional reputation might not be worth it.

Has anyone considered that the charity might have ways to handle this situation? Many larger charities have programs for corporate matching optimization and might have legitimate solutions. I would suggest your coworker contact the charity's development office directly. They deal with matching gift situations all the time and might have proper ways to maximize the donation without creating problems.