Can Businesses Really Deduct Your Donations From Their Taxes?

Every so often you might get asked to make a donation to charity. Whether it's on the screen as you're cashing out using your debit or credit card or the cashier may ask you to round-up for whatever the cause may be, it happening more and more often now than ever before.

Word started getting around in the form of memes and messages of the idea that businesses like stores and restaurants would use your donations for that cause so that the store could write off your donation as a tax deduction.

But, can they really?

Can a restaurant or store take the money you donated to charity and claim your donation as their own?

According to KGW8, it seems that they can not.

They can with their own charity donations, of course, but they can't include the funds that you, the customer, donated.

The tax information website taxpolicycenter.org also mentions this.
This is where you round up your bill to give to a charity designated by the retailer, and the donation amount appears on your receipt. The store serves only as a collection agent for your gift. Assuming the business is following the law, it will not include your donation as part of its business receipts, or income, nor will it claim the charitable gift as an expense.

They go on to say that your charity donation will show up on your receipt which you may absolutely use on your own taxes as a charity donation.