Yep, donations to Idaho’s school endowment fund are tax-deductible…

Numerous Eye on Boise readers have been asking whether Idaho Rep. Phil Hart’s voluntary donation to the state school endowment fund would be tax deductible, so I posed the question about such donations to Dan John, tax policy manager for the Idaho State Tax Commission. The answer: Yes.

“Under federal law, which we adopt, it would be deductible by an individual who itemizes their deductions as a charitable contribution,” John said.  “There’s a specific code section under Internal Revenue Code that allows charitable contributions to the United States, states or possessions and their political subdivisions.” The section, Internal Revenue Code Section 170(c)(1), comes into play fairly often, John said, as it applies to such things as donations of parks to cities. “We have charitable contributions all the time,” he said.