If the store is representing the extra charge as a donation to a specific charity, generally, the customer can deduct that.
If it’s far more vague, like, “Give $10 to help poor kids in Africa” the ultimate destination for the funds could be the company’s own ledgers, which it would then use for its own charitable activities and collect the tax deduction, as long as they “help poor kids in Africa.”
And some stores are just lying. CVS, for instance, was sued as part of a class action suit when, after the company pledges $10 million to the American Diabetes Association, then collected money from customers to fund that pledge.
From November 2, 2021, through November 27, 2021, CVS conducted a campaign
(the “Campaign”) in which, prior to the completion of transactions at its nearly ten thousand stores
in the 50 States and the District of Columbia, customers were asked on the checkout screen if they
wished, as part of the checkout process, to make a donation, above and beyond the price of their
purchase, to the American Diabetes Association (“ADA”).
The only term of the Campaign that CVS provided to customers was a representation
on the checkout screen that the customer could make a donation to the ADA (a “Campaign
Donation”) by tapping one of several boxes on the checkout screen, each of which contained a preselected amount, or that the customer could tap a box stating “no” with respect to making a
Campaign Donation (the “Checkout Message”).
The Checkout Message represented that CVS was merely collecting Campaign
Donations and forwarding them to the ADA.
The Checkout Message was a material element of the Campaign.
CVS intended that customers would rely upon the Checkout Message in deciding
whether to make a Campaign Donation.
Customers had no reason to believe that the Checkout Message was anything but true
and accurate.
CVS did not merely collect customers’ Campaign Donations and forward them to the
ADA, but, instead, counted Campaign Donations toward the satisfaction of a legally binding
obligation, which CVS had made to the ADA, to donate $10 million to the ADA during the threeyear period of 2021 through 2023 (the “CVS Obligation”).
CVS necessarily used Campaign Donations to reimburse itself, or pay down its debt,
with respect to the CVS Obligation.
2
Case 1:22-cv-03116-RPK-RML Document 1 Filed 05/26/22 Page 2 of 26 PageID #: 2
CVS’s treatment of, and benefit from, Campaign Donations were materially different
than the false, deceptive, and misleading representation that CVS had given to its customers, which
was that CVS was merely collecting Campaign Donations and forwarding them to the ADA.
On or about November 15, 2021, McCabe made a Campaign Donation at the CVS
store located at 1933 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314.
It depends on exactly what the store is doing.
If the store is representing the extra charge as a donation to a specific charity, generally, the customer can deduct that.
If it’s far more vague, like, “Give $10 to help poor kids in Africa” the ultimate destination for the funds could be the company’s own ledgers, which it would then use for its own charitable activities and collect the tax deduction, as long as they “help poor kids in Africa.”
And some stores are just lying. CVS, for instance, was sued as part of a class action suit when, after the company pledges $10 million to the American Diabetes Association, then collected money from customers to fund that pledge.
Yep, found the case you referred to…