How to get a C.L.U.E. report?

How do I report out-of-pocket expenses from volunteer for a charity?

• I found this IRS document that says can't get credit for the 700+ hours of volunteer work I did but I can at least get some credit for the money I spent doing it. Has anyone done this before? how do you do the report? Especially for gas costs? Can I get credit for maintenance done specifically due to the driving I had to do? (I drove about 7k miles only for this activity in 3 months, so I had to get an oil change, tires rotated, etc) What kind of record do i use to show the expense? most of the gas stations did not provide receipts and I usually don't keep receipts anyway. But most of them were on my credit card, could I use online statements to prove these costs? What about food costs incurred during this activity- paying for lunch as an example. I worked as a skilled volunteer for Habitat for Humanity - Greater Los Angeles Area between Jan 2011 and May 2011, approx 95 days / 760 hours. from my house it's about 72-76 mile round trip. I remember averaging about 4 days per tank of gas. or about 296 miles per tank, and gas was about $78 per tank... plus dunno how many $5 subways did I buy for lunch... I do know it did cost alot and after a certain point my parents tarted to pay for it since i had run near into bankruptancy doing it (I was unemployed and my parents didn't want me hanging around in the house all day) IRS doc link (PDF) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf they didn't provide a sample itemized report. having never done one in my life I have no clue how to do one.

• Answer:

  You need Gasoline Receipts No for the wear and tear on car No for your lunch. You eat lunch every day whether you volunteer or not. You don't itemize, you get Habitat for Humanity to Document the Mileage you traveled. On Schedule C Under Charity and Donations you would put Habitat for Humanity $400 You only need the receipt if you are audited.