Two common misunderstood non deductible situations.

1. Loss for no money collected.  Common amongst landlords.  If it is vacant, I loss money.  However, if you are not reporting it as income, how can you deduct the income.                                                                                                                                                                                     
2. The value of your time is never I mean never a deduction for charitable purposes.  We loss a client over this discussion.  By IRS rules if you are volunerring to a charitable organization, you can't deduct the value of your time and other creative thoughts.  From IRS Publication 526: 
   

   Value of Time or Services

   You cannot deduct the value of your time or services, including:
   
   • Blood donations to the American Red Cross or to blood banks, and
     
   • The value of income lost while you work as an unpaid volunteer for a qualified organization.
     
   
   

   Personal Expenses

   You cannot deduct personal, living, or family expenses, such as the following items.
   

   • The cost of meals you eat while you perform services for a qualified organization, unless it is necessary for you to be away from home overnight while performing the services.
     
   • Adoption expenses, including fees paid to an adoption agency and the costs of keeping a child in your home before adoption is final. However, you may be able to claim a tax credit for these expenses. Also, you may be able to exclude from your gross income amounts paid or reimbursed by your employer for your adoption expenses. See Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses, and its instructions, for more information. You also may be able to claim an exemption for the child. See Exemptions for Dependents in Publication 501 for more information.