How to Claim Your St. Jude Donation Tax Deduction

Your St. Jude donation tax deduction is available because St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and the IRS treats gifts to it as qualified charitable contributions under Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.¹ The hospital’s EIN is 62-0646012, which you’ll need when you file.² Starting in 2026, even donors who don’t itemize can write off up to $1,000 in cash charitable gifts ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly), so the tax benefit reaches many more households than it did in recent years.

Itemizer or Standard Deduction: Which Path Applies to You

How you claim a St. Jude gift depends on whether you itemize.

If You Itemize

Charitable contributions go on Schedule A of Form 1040.³ Itemizing only helps when your combined deductible expenses beat the standard deduction. For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.⁴ Add up your mortgage interest, state and local taxes, medical expenses, and charitable gifts. If the total falls short of those figures, itemizing won’t help.

If You Take the Standard Deduction

New for 2026: taxpayers who take the standard deduction can deduct up to $1,000 in cash charitable contributions ($2,000 for joint filers) as an above-the-line deduction, taken directly on Form 1040. This amount isn’t indexed for inflation. It also excludes gifts to donor-advised funds and private non-operating foundations, but a straightforward cash gift to St. Jude qualifies. This is the first time in several years non-itemizers have had any charitable write-off at all.

What Counts as a Gift

A deductible contribution is a genuine gift with nothing coming back to you. If St. Jude sends a mug or tote as thanks, subtract the fair market value of that item from your deductible amount. Merchandise, full-price event tickets, and raffle entries are not charitable donations, even when a charity runs the event.

How Much You Can Actually Deduct

The IRS caps annual charitable deductions as a share of your adjusted gross income. For gifts to St. Jude, the ceilings are:

Cash contributions: up to 60% of AGI.
Long-term appreciated property (stocks, real estate held more than a year): up to 30% of AGI.

If your giving exceeds these caps in a single year, the unused portion carries forward for up to five years, applied in order and subject to the same AGI limits each year.⁵

The New 0.5% Floor for Itemizers

Beginning in 2026, itemized charitable deductions only count to the extent they exceed 0.5% of your AGI.⁶ With an AGI of $150,000, the first $750 you give produces no deduction. A $5,000 gift to St. Jude yields a $4,250 deduction rather than the full amount. Large donors barely feel it; smaller donors relative to their income feel it more.

Cap for Top-Bracket Taxpayers

Taxpayers in the 37% marginal bracket have the tax benefit of their itemized charitable deductions capped at 35%. Each donated dollar saves slightly less than the full marginal rate would suggest. This cap applies only to itemized deductions, not to the above-the-line deduction for non-itemizers.

Documentation You Need

Recordkeeping rules tighten as the gift grows. This is where deductions most often get denied at audit, so match your records to the threshold.

Cash Gifts Under $250

A bank statement, canceled check, or credit card statement showing St. Jude’s name, the date, and the amount is enough.⁷ A receipt or email confirmation from St. Jude works too.

Cash Gifts of $250 or More

You need a written acknowledgment from St. Jude stating the amount and whether you received any goods or services in return.³ You must have it in hand before you file. St. Jude typically sends one automatically; confirm it arrived before you file rather than assume.

Non-Cash Gifts Over $500

Property gifts above $500 require Form 8283 filed with your return.³ For items claimed above $5,000, you generally need a qualified appraisal, and both the appraiser and the charity must sign Section B of Form 8283.⁸ Publicly traded stock is the main exception, since market value is objectively verifiable.

Vehicle Donations Over $500

Donate a car, boat, or airplane worth more than $500 and St. Jude must send you Form 1098-C, generally within 30 days of selling the vehicle.⁹ Your deduction is usually limited to what the charity actually sells the vehicle for, not the Blue Book value.

How to Report the Gift on Your Return

Cash donations go on line 11 of Schedule A, and non-cash contributions on line 12.¹⁰ If you’re claiming the above-the-line deduction as a non-itemizer, you skip Schedule A entirely and take the deduction directly on Form 1040.

Keep receipts, acknowledgment letters, and any appraisals for at least three years from the filing date of the return that claimed the deduction.¹¹ If you’re carrying forward unused deductions, the three-year clock doesn’t start until you file the return that uses up the last of the carryforward, so hold records longer in that case.

Year-End Timing

A gift counts for the tax year based on when you complete it, not when St. Jude processes it. Credit card gifts count on the date your card issuer processes the charge. Mailed checks count on the postmark date, even if St. Jude opens the envelope in January. Wires and ACH payments count when funds hit the charity’s account. If you’re pushing up against December 31, a credit card donation is the safest choice because the transaction is timestamped immediately.

Ways to Give That Increase the Tax Benefit

Donating Appreciated Stock

Giving stock or mutual fund shares held more than a year is one of the most tax-efficient moves. You deduct the full fair market value and avoid capital gains tax on the appreciation. Shares bought for $10,000 and now worth $50,000, sold and donated as cash, would trigger tax on $40,000 of growth. Donated directly, that tax disappears.

The AGI ceiling for appreciated property gifts to a public charity like St. Jude is 30% rather than 60%, with the same five-year carryforward for anything above the cap.⁵ To move shares, instruct your broker to send them by DTC transfer. St. Jude’s brokerage account is with LPL Financial (DTC ID 0075, Account 67140147). Contact St. Jude at (800) 395-4341 or stock@stjude.org before initiating the transfer so the team can identify the gift and issue a receipt.¹² Shares held a year or less are deductible only at your original cost basis.

Qualified Charitable Distributions From an IRA

If you’re 70½ or older with a traditional IRA, a qualified charitable distribution lets you send up to $111,000 per year directly from the IRA to St. Jude without the distribution counting as taxable income. Each spouse in a qualifying couple can do this separately. The transfer also satisfies your required minimum distribution for the year, which is especially useful for retirees who don’t need the IRA income.

The money must move directly from the IRA custodian to St. Jude. If it lands in your bank account first, the IRS treats the whole amount as a taxable distribution and you lose the benefit. You don’t claim a separate charitable deduction on a QCD, because the income never appears on your return. For someone in the 22% bracket, a $10,000 QCD to St. Jude saves $2,200 in income tax compared with withdrawing and spending the same amount.

Bunching Contributions

If your itemized deductions usually hover near the standard deduction, consider concentrating two or three years of giving into one year. Instead of $5,000 to St. Jude annually, donate $15,000 every three years. In the bunching year your itemized total clears the standard deduction by enough to generate real savings. In the off years, take the standard deduction and still claim the $1,000/$2,000 above-the-line write-off for smaller gifts.

Donor-Advised Funds

A donor-advised fund pairs well with bunching. You make a large contribution to the DAF in one year, take the full deduction that year, and recommend grants to St. Jude over time.¹³ The new above-the-line deduction for non-itemizers does not apply to DAF contributions, so this route only helps itemizers.

Employer Matching

Many employers match employee charitable gifts. St. Jude maintains an online matching gift search where you can check whether your company participates.¹⁴ Spouses of employees at participating companies may also qualify. The matched portion doesn’t add to your own deduction (your employer claims that separately), but it means St. Jude receives more from each gift you send.

1
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Is My Gift to St. Jude a Tax-Deductible Donation?
2
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Bequest Information
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 506, Charitable Contributions
4
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
7
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Publication 1771 – Charitable Contributions – Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283
9
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1098-C, Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526, Charitable Contributions
11
Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records
12
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. How Donating Stocks to Charity Can Make a Difference
13
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Tax-Deductible Donations
14
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Employer Matching Gifts