Are Girl Scout cookies tax deductible? (2024)

FAQs

Are Girl Scout cookies tax deductible? ›

According to the organization, Girl Scout cookies aren't tax deductible if you are purchasing them for yourself to eat. In that case, the cookies have been bought at fair market value, so there's nothing that can be written off.

Overall, we estimate that Girl scout cookies cost between $1.50 – $2.00 per box. At a sale price of $6 per box (in some areas, prices are now ​up to $7​), Councils earn around $4 – $5 profit per box (or about 70% margins). Georgians must love their cookies!

Boy Scouts of America is a qualified charitable organization. Contributions made to the organization would be deductible, but scouting dues or membership fees would not be deductible.

Checks - Girls and troops can accept checks from customers they know, but should not accept checks from strangers or checks over $25 in value. If your troop decides to accept checks, they should be written to the troop bank account. Credit Cards - Girl Scouts can receive credit card payments using Digital Cookie.

ABC Bakers is owned by Interbake Foods, and Little Brownie Bakers is owned by Italian confection maker, Ferrero. Girl Scouts pay the bakeries $1.30 for each box of cookies, which comes out to a whopping $260 million in revenue annually for these bakeries.

The bakery is paid about 25 to 35 percent of the profits; 45 to 65 percent is used by the regional council to cover programming costs; and 10 to 20 percent is kept by the local troop whose members decide how to spend their portion of the funds.

A Girl Scout Lifetime Membership costs $400 or, for alums under age 30 and currently registered volunteers with ten or more years of service, the cost is $200. Your lifetime membership donation is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

Yes, you can deduct the part of the sales that benefits the Boy Scouts.

In general, homeowners insurance premiums are not tax deductible. If you use your home as a home – without deriving any income from it – your expenses, including insurance premiums, are not deductible.

Can Girl Scout Cookies be written off? ›

According to the organization, Girl Scout cookies aren't tax deductible if you are purchasing them for yourself to eat. In that case, the cookies have been bought at fair market value, so there's nothing that can be written off.

Girl Scouts should observe council jurisdictions when selling cookies at a parent's or guardian's workplace, unless other arrangements are made to accommodate all Girl Scout families connected to that workplace. For cookie booth sales, all booth locations are designated and approved by the council.

Little Brownie Bakers owns the trademarks for the names Samoas, Tagalongs, and Do-Si-Dos. Girls Scouts own the trademarks for Thin Mints, Trefoils, and Adventurefuls, which is why those names are the same.

The volunteer-led Product Sales Committee has approved increasing the price of Girl Scout Cookies sold in the 2024 Cookie Program to $6/package. An additional $0.20/package is allocated to girl rewards. After paying the baker for making the Girl Scout Cookies, all proceeds will stay local!

Girl Scout Cookies are a $1 billion industry

The national organization calls it "the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world," with nearly 700,000 Girl Scouts participating. You've probably heard about cookie prices going up. The vast majority of troops are now selling boxes for between $5 and $7.

On average, troops sell 30-40 boxes of cookies per hour. So, for the typical three- hour cookie booth, approximately 90-120 boxes may be sold.

Through “learning by earning,” Girl Scouting aims to empower girls through the development of five essential skills: goal set- ting, money management, people skills, decision making, and business ethics.