Is donating blood tax deductible ?
611189
No.  The actual blood is not something that has a cash value in our society (plus it is illegal to sell blood).  However, you can possibly deduct the mileage or transportation fees necessary to get you to and from the donation.
71152
"You cannot deduct the value of gifts you make (other than gifts that are deductible charitable contributions)".\n\nhttp://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p950.pdf\n\nOn the other hand, you don't have to pay gift tax, because the gift tax exclusion is now $11,000 (or $22,000 for a married couple).\n\n"If you gave any one person gifts in 2005 that valued at more than $11,000, you must report the total gifts to the Internal Revenue Service and may have to pay tax on the gifts. "\n\nhttp://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=107815,00.html\n\n\np.s. Will you adopt me?  :-D
890640
Dave, your principles bear no interest for me ;-)\n\nGetting back to the question, an interest-free loan to charity is not deductible.  There are a number of reasons for this, but just suppose your benefactor did not loan you the money, but invested it himself and donated the income to your foundation.  He would have offsetting items of income and deduction for zero net effect on taxable income.  The same result arises from the interest free loan:  No income, no deduction.\n\nAnd it's principAL, not principLE, in case you missed the joke.
578159
Diabetes is not a contraindication to donate blood.  It will not increase the recipient's sugar level for example...\n\nNon diabetic people are reccomended not to go fasting to blood bank, and this is more important to you.  After donation you need to rest for an hour more or less, maybe they will offer something to eat, if it is glucose-free, you can go ahead.\n\nIf you get dizziness or thirst after the donation, maybe you are not having a glucose trouble, but an hypovolemia (reduced blood level), easily solvable by resting and drinking glucose-free liquids.
95366
Rules for autologous (for yourself) blood donation are much less strict than for regular donations.  You will have enough time for your body to bring back your white cell count (these fight infection) before your surgery.  Trust the staff at your local hospital.  They've been trained in this sort of thing!
52116
No, you have to itemize in order to deduct charitable contributions.
367586
The best way is to get a receipt when you make the donation.  If you try to claim donations without one, you won't have any proof to show if you're audited.
594969
Your friend is correct. It IS illegal to sell your blood or any body organs. You can only donate through Red Cross Blood Bank or other such designated places. Someone herehas to know more about it than me though. Good Luck.
767662
Fair? This government taxes you for everything: being born, living and dying. It will always find a way of squeezing more blood out of a stone, duty free or not.
307225
Gifts to Charity \nYou can deduct contributions or gifts you gave to organizations that are religious, charitable, educational, scientific, or literary in purpose. You can also deduct what you gave to organizations that work to prevent cruelty to children or animals. Certain whaling captains may be able to deduct expenses paid in 2005 for Native Alaskan subsistence bowhead whale hunting activities. See Pub. 526 for details. \n\nTo verify an organization's charitable status, you can: \n\nCheck with the organization to which you made the donation. The organization should be able to provide you with verification of its charitable status. \n\nSee Pub. 78 for a list of most qualified organizations. You can access Pub. 78 on the IRS website at www.irs.gov under Charities and Non-Profits.\n\nCall our Tax Exempt/Government Entities Customer Account Services at 1-877-829-5500. Assistance is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. \n\n\nExamples of Qualified Charitable Organizations \n\nChurches, mosques, synagogues, temples, etc.\n\nBoy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, CARE, Girl Scouts, Goodwill Industries, Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way, etc. \n\nFraternal orders, if the gifts will be used for the purposes listed above.\n\nVeterans' and certain cultural groups.\n\nNonprofit schools, hospitals, and organizations whose purpose is to find a cure for, or help people who have, arthritis, asthma, birth defects, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, heart disease, hemophilia, mental illness or retardation, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, tuberculosis, etc. \n\nFederal, state, and local governments if the gifts are solely for public purposes.\n\n\nContributions You Can Deduct\nContributions can be in cash (keep canceled checks, receipts, or other reliable written records showing the name of the organization and the date and amount given), property, or out-of-pocket expenses you paid to do volunteer work for the kinds of organizations described earlier. If you drove to and from the volunteer work, you can take the actual cost of gas and oil or 14 cents a mile. But, if the volunteer work was to provide relief related to Hurricane Katrina after August 24, 2005, this amount is increased to 29 cents a mile (34 cents a mile after August 31, 2005). Add parking and tolls to the amount you claim under either method. But do not deduct any amounts that were repaid to you. \n\nGifts from which you benefit.   If you made a gift and received a benefit in return, such as food, entertainment, or merchandise, you can generally only deduct the amount that is more than the value of the benefit. But this rule does not apply to certain membership benefits provided in return for an annual payment of $75 or less. For details, see Pub. 526. \n\nExample.\n\nYou paid $70 to a charitable organization to attend a fund-raising dinner and the value of the dinner was $40. You can deduct only $30. \n\nGifts of $250 or more.   You can deduct a gift of $250 or more only if you have a statement from the charitable organization showing the information in (1) and (2) below. \n\n  In figuring whether a gift is $250 or more, do not combine separate donations. For example, if you gave your church $25 each week for a total of $1,300, treat each $25 payment as a separate gift. If you made donations through payroll deductions, treat each deduction from each paycheck as a separate gift. See Pub. 526 if you made a separate gift of $250 or more through payroll deduction. \nThe amount of any money contributed and a description (but not value) of any property donated.\n\nWhether the organization did or did not give you any goods or services in return for your contribution. If you did receive any goods or services, a description and estimate of the value must be included. If you received only intangible religious benefits (such as admission to a religious ceremony), the organization must state this, but it does n
847335
None!  God doesn't need your money.  Want to donate something?  Donate blood, give old clothes to the salvation army, donate your time to a shelter or program like Big Brothers/Big Sisters...you will make a much more positive impact than throwing your money into a plate to cover the church's light bill.
254055
It is not harmful to you to donate blood, so long as you are in good health at the time of the donation. The donor center will take a small sample of your blood first to test your hemoglobin and hematocrit, to make sure you can safely donate. They will also ask you a health history to make sure that it is safe for you to donate, and that your blood is not at risk for having any viruses that could be spread to others. (Be prepared to be asked some very personal questions about your life, such as sexual history, IV drug use, and so on. This is confidential but meant to keep the blood supply safe.)  \n\nAfter donating, you should drink plenty of fluids (NOT alcohol, as it actually dehydrates you worse) and preferably eat a light snack.  You can only donate once every 56 days, to allow your body a chance to regenerate the lost blood cells.\n\nAs to whether it is painful, the needle used has to be fairly large to keep the blood from clotting in it. (You don't want to get stuck for nothing, do you?)  The nurse or technician who does the venipuncture ("stick") will tell you when to expect it, and it only lasts a second or two usually. Not a bad trade for the satisfaction of helping to save a life.
258742
Asthma:\nDonation acceptable as long as you are not having difficulty breathing at the time of donation and you otherwise feel well. Medications for asthma do not disqualify you from donating.
354953
I think you should be able to do that, but check with the local blood donation service please.
686949
All you need is to be in pretty goo d health.  If you're in the UK you register through the blood donation service - go down to see them, tell them you'd like to go on the bone marrow register.  They make sure you're healthy, check your blood type and add you to the register.  This doesn't mean you'll ever donate, if someone needs bone marrow they check the register and contact potential matches, they then check all those matches to see who comes closest - but they give you all that info at the blood donation centre.
126365
There are many restrictions to giving blood.  The Gulf Coast Regional Blood center has a complete list.
992288
Call your local Red Cross and find out when they have blood drives. Once you have given you are on their list and they will call you again when you can donate. Not before 6 weeks time.