How Much Can I Donate to Charity: AGI Limits and 2026 Rules

Federal law caps charitable donation tax deductions at a percentage of your adjusted gross income: up to 60% of AGI for cash gifts to public charities, with lower caps for property and for gifts to private foundations. Starting in tax year 2026, taxpayers who take the standard deduction can also deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly) without itemizing. The exact ceiling that applies to you depends on what you give, who receives it, and whether you itemize.

The AGI Percentage Caps

The deduction is measured against your adjusted gross income, and the cap changes with the type of gift and the type of recipient.

Cash to a public charity: up to 60% of AGI.¹
Long-term capital gain property to a public charity, such as appreciated stock held more than a year: up to 30% of AGI.¹
Cash to a private foundation: up to 30% of AGI.²
Capital gain property to a private foundation: up to 20% of AGI.¹

If you give to both public charities and private foundations in the same year, your combined deduction cannot exceed 60% of AGI.

What Happens If You Give More Than the Cap

Amounts over the annual cap are not lost. The excess carries forward for up to five additional tax years.¹ Current-year gifts are deducted first; older carryovers come next, with the oldest applied before newer ones. Qualified conservation contributions get a longer window and carry forward for up to 15 years.³

Itemizing or Taking the Standard Deduction

To claim the full charitable deduction against the AGI caps above, you have to itemize on Schedule A of Form 1040 instead of taking the standard deduction.⁴ Itemizing pays off only when your combined deductible expenses — charitable gifts, mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and eligible medical expenses — exceed the standard deduction for your filing status.

For tax year 2026, the standard deduction amounts are:⁵

Single or married filing separately: $16,100
Married filing jointly or surviving spouse: $32,200
Head of household: $24,150

Taxpayers who are 65 or older or legally blind get an additional standard deduction. For 2026, that extra amount is $1,650 per qualifying person if married, or $2,050 if single or head of household.

The New Deduction for Non-Itemizers in 2026

Beginning with tax year 2026, you no longer have to itemize to get some tax benefit from giving. If you take the standard deduction, you can still deduct up to $1,000 in cash contributions to qualifying charities, or up to $2,000 if you are married filing jointly.⁶ This deduction is on top of the standard deduction, not in place of it, and reduces your AGI directly. Only cash gifts to organizations described in Section 170(c) count. Non-cash property does not qualify for this route.

Which Organizations Qualify

The recipient has to be an organization recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code — groups organized for religious, charitable, educational, scientific, or literary purposes.⁷ Federal, state, and local government units also qualify when the gift serves a public purpose, and some veterans’ organizations qualify for their charitable activities.

Gifts to political campaigns, political action committees, or individual people are never deductible.⁷ You can confirm an organization’s status through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov before you write the check.

Gifts That Don’t Count

Some contributions that feel charitable are outside the deduction rules:

The value of your time or services. Volunteering is not deductible, even at an hourly rate you could otherwise charge.³
Raffle or lottery tickets bought at a charity event. Those are treated as games of chance.³
Tuition paid to a parochial school or nonprofit daycare, even when the school characterizes part of it as a donation.³

Out-of-pocket costs you pay while volunteering can be deductible. Driving your own car for charitable work is deductible at 14 cents per mile in 2026, and parking and tolls are deductible too.⁸ The charitable mileage rate is set by statute and does not move with fuel prices.

When you get something back for your gift, such as a gala dinner or event tickets, only the portion above the value of what you received is deductible. If you pay $200 for a dinner worth $75, your deduction is $125. For any payment over $75 that involves goods or services in return, the charity must give you a written good-faith estimate of what those items are worth.⁹

How Non-Cash Gifts Are Valued

Property gifts are deductible at fair market value on the date of the donation. That is the price a willing buyer and willing seller would agree on, both reasonably informed about the item. For publicly traded stocks or bonds, fair market value is the average of the highest and lowest selling prices on the donation date.¹⁰ Giving appreciated stock held more than a year is often more tax-efficient than selling it and donating the proceeds, because you avoid the capital gains tax while still deducting the full market value.

Clothing and household items have to be in good used condition or better. Their deductible value is usually far below what you originally paid.

For a donated car, boat, or airplane worth more than $500, the deduction is generally the gross proceeds the charity actually receives from selling it, not a book value.¹⁰ The charity reports the sale price to you on Form 1098-C. Full fair market value is allowed in two situations: the charity certifies it will make significant use of the vehicle itself, such as driving it daily to deliver meals for at least a year; or the charity gives or sells the vehicle to a person in need at a steep discount.¹¹

If a single item, or a group of similar items, is worth more than $5,000, you need a qualified appraisal from an appraiser who meets IRS education and experience standards.¹⁰ The appraiser signs the summary on Form 8283, Section B, and the charity signs an acknowledgment on the same form.¹²

Records You Need to Claim It

Documentation rules tighten as the dollar amount rises. Without the right records, the deduction can be disallowed even for a legitimate gift.

Any cash contribution. Keep a bank statement, canceled check, credit card statement, or written receipt from the charity showing the date, amount, and organization name. Personal notes do not count.¹³
Single donation of $250 or more. You need a written acknowledgment from the charity in hand by the time you file. It must state whether you received anything in return and, if so, estimate its value.¹³
Non-cash donations over $500. File Form 8283 with your return, using Section A for items valued between $500 and $5,000.¹²
Non-cash donations over $5,000. Complete Section B of Form 8283 with the appraiser’s declaration and the charity’s signed acknowledgment.¹²

Keep charitable records for at least three years after you file the return claiming the deduction, matching the general IRS assessment period.¹⁴ The recordkeeping rules apply whether you itemize or use the new non-itemizer deduction.⁶

Qualified Charitable Distributions for IRA Owners

If you are 70½ or older, a qualified charitable distribution offers a separate path that bypasses the deduction question entirely. The IRA custodian sends the money straight to a qualifying charity, and the amount never enters your taxable income, even though it counts toward your required minimum distribution. For 2026, the annual QCD limit is $111,000 per person, or $222,000 for a married couple where both spouses qualify.

Because a QCD is excluded from income rather than claimed as a deduction, it can be more valuable than a deduction if you take the standard deduction and give more than the $1,000 or $2,000 non-itemizer limit. The gift has to go directly to an eligible charity. Private foundations and donor-advised funds are not eligible QCD recipients.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170
2
Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contribution Deductions
3
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526, Charitable Contributions
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040)
5
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
6
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 506, Charitable Contributions
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 501 – Exemption From Tax on Corporations, Certain Trusts, Etc.
8
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2026-10, 2026 Standard Mileage Rates
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6115 – Disclosure Related to Quid Pro Quo Contributions
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property
11
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1098-C, Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes
12
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283
13
Internal Revenue Service. Substantiating Charitable Contributions
14
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping