IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions: Limits and Records

The rules for deducting charitable contributions are set out in IRS Publication 526, and they turn on four questions: who received the gift, what you gave, how much of your income the deduction can offset, and whether you have the paperwork to prove it. For 2026, the overall deduction cap remains 60% of adjusted gross income for itemizers, and a new above-the-line deduction lets non-itemizers write off up to $1,000 ($2,000 for joint filers) in qualifying cash gifts for the first time in several years.

Itemizing vs. the New Above-the-Line Deduction

Historically, charitable gifts only produced a tax benefit if you itemized on Schedule A, and only to the extent your total itemized deductions exceeded the standard deduction. For 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly.¹ If your mortgage interest, state and local taxes, medical expenses, and charitable gifts combined don’t clear that bar, itemizing produces no federal tax savings.

Starting in 2026, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill added Section 170(p) to the Internal Revenue Code, letting non-itemizers deduct up to $1,000 in qualifying cash contributions ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly) as an adjustment to income.² You claim it on Form 1040 rather than Schedule A, and it reduces AGI directly. A 50% accuracy-related penalty applies to overstatements of this deduction, so the numbers need to match your records.³

Which Organizations Qualify

A gift is deductible only when it goes to a qualified organization. The core category is entities recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3): religious, educational, scientific, literary, and charitable organizations, plus groups that prevent cruelty to children or animals.⁴ Federal, state, and local governments also qualify when the gift is made exclusively for a public purpose.

You can confirm an organization’s status through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool before you give.⁵ A gift to a group that isn’t qualified produces no deduction, no matter how carefully you documented it.

Foreign charities are generally outside the rules, because the recipient has to be organized in the United States. A narrow treaty exception exists: U.S. taxpayers with Canadian-source income may deduct gifts to registered Canadian charities, but only against that Canadian-source income and subject to the same percentage limits that apply domestically. A treaty-based deduction gets disclosed on Form 8833.

What Counts (and What Doesn’t)

Deductible gifts include cash, checks, electronic transfers, and property of all kinds. If you receive something in return, only the amount above the value of what you received is deductible. A $500 ticket to a charity gala where the dinner is worth $150 produces a $350 deduction. The charity has to give you a written disclosure for any quid pro quo payment over $75, estimating what you received and stating how much is deductible.⁶

Several payments never qualify, regardless of intent:

Gifts to individuals, including paying someone’s rent or medical bills directly.
Political contributions to candidates, campaigns, or parties.
Raffle and lottery tickets, because you’re buying a chance to win.
Tuition, which is a payment for a service.
The value of your time or services as a volunteer.

You can, however, deduct out-of-pocket expenses tied to volunteering for a qualified organization. The standard mileage rate for charitable driving is 14 cents per mile for 2026, plus parking fees and tolls.⁷ The rate is set by statute and rarely changes. Reasonable meals and lodging for overnight volunteer travel also qualify, provided the trip has no significant element of personal vacation or recreation.

Valuing Property You Donate

Property gifts are deducted at fair market value: what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller, with both reasonably informed and neither under pressure. The amount you can actually claim then depends on what kind of property it is and how long you’ve owned it.

Ordinary income property covers inventory, creative works you made yourself, and anything held for one year or less. The deduction is the lesser of fair market value or your cost basis.⁸

Capital gain property is anything held more than one year that would produce long-term capital gain if sold.⁹ The general rule allows a deduction for the full fair market value with no tax on the built-in gain. For tangible personal property such as furniture, art, or collectibles, there’s a catch: the charity has to use the item in a way related to its exempt purpose. A painting donated to a museum that displays it qualifies for full fair market value; the same painting donated to a hospital that auctions it off is limited to your cost basis.

Publicly traded securities held more than one year always qualify for the full fair market value deduction, regardless of what the charity does with them. That makes appreciated stock one of the most tax-efficient assets to give.

Vehicles, Boats, and Aircraft

If your claimed deduction for a donated vehicle exceeds $500, the deduction is generally capped at what the charity receives when it sells the vehicle. The charity provides Form 1098-C showing the sale price, and you need that form in hand before you can claim the deduction.

Cryptocurrency and Other Digital Assets

Digital assets follow the same framework as other property. Held more than one year, they’re capital gain property eligible for a full fair market value deduction. Because digital assets don’t get the publicly traded securities exemption, a qualified appraisal is required whenever the claimed deduction exceeds $5,000. Report the gift in Section B of Form 8283.¹⁰

How Much You Can Deduct in One Year

The overall ceiling is 60% of AGI across all charitable deductions combined.⁸ Within that cap, four tiers apply depending on recipient and asset type:

60% of AGI: cash to public charities (churches, schools, hospitals, and other 50% limit organizations in IRS terminology).
50% of AGI: non-cash gifts of ordinary income property to public charities, reduced by cash gifts already claimed under the 60% limit. Qualified conservation contributions also sit here.
30% of AGI: cash or ordinary income property given to private non-operating foundations, and appreciated capital gain property given to public charities at full fair market value.¹¹
20% of AGI: appreciated capital gain property given to private non-operating foundations.

When multiple gift types land in the same year, the limits apply in order from highest tier to lowest, with each tier reduced by amounts already allowed above it.

One election worth knowing: if the 30% limit on appreciated capital gain property to a public charity is too restrictive, you can elect to reduce your deduction to the property’s cost basis and move the gift into the 50% tier. You give up the appreciation but may deduct more in the current year.⁸

Anything over the limit carries forward up to five years and keeps its original character. A 30%-tier gift that exceeds this year’s cap stays a 30%-tier gift in each carryover year.¹¹ Current-year gifts take priority over carryovers, so if your giving continues at a high level, older carryforwards can expire unused. Track them yourself; neither the IRS nor the charity will.

Documentation You Must Keep

This is where otherwise valid deductions die. The thresholds are strict, the deadlines are real, and courts have repeatedly refused to excuse missing paperwork even when the gift itself was undisputed.

Any Cash Gift

For every cash donation, no matter the size, you need either a bank record (canceled check, bank statement, or credit card statement) or a written receipt from the charity.¹² Nothing in writing, no deduction.

Any Single Gift of $250 or More

Any single contribution of $250 or more, cash or property, requires a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity. It has to state the amount contributed or describe the property, and confirm whether the organization provided any goods or services in return.¹³ You must have the acknowledgment by the earlier of the date you file your return or the filing deadline including extensions.¹² There is no reasonable-cause exception. Get the letter before you file.

Non-Cash Gifts Over $500

When your non-cash contributions exceed $500 in total, you must complete and attach Form 8283. Section A asks for the property description, date and manner of acquisition, cost basis, and fair market value. A missing or incomplete Form 8283 generally results in the deduction being disallowed.¹⁴

Any Item Above $5,000

For any single item or group of similar items with a claimed value above $5,000, you need a qualified appraisal from a qualified appraiser, and you complete Section B of Form 8283. The donee has to sign Section B to acknowledge receipt.¹⁴ Publicly traded securities are exempt from the appraisal requirement at any value because market quotes establish fair market value.⁸

Itemized deductions, including charitable gifts, are reported on Schedule A filed with Form 1040.¹⁵

Qualified Charitable Distributions From an IRA

If you’re 70½ or older, you have a separate path that doesn’t require itemizing at all. A qualified charitable distribution lets you transfer up to $111,000 directly from a traditional IRA to a qualified charity in 2026.¹⁶ The transfer stays out of your taxable income and counts toward any required minimum distribution.

Because a QCD never enters AGI, it keeps your income lower for Medicare premium surcharges, Social Security taxation, and other income-based thresholds, which an ordinary withdrawal followed by a donation would not. Married couples with separate IRAs can each give up to $111,000, for a combined $222,000.

Not every charity is eligible. Donor-advised funds, private foundations, and supporting organizations cannot receive QCDs. The distribution has to go directly from the IRA custodian to the charity, never through your hands first.

Penalties for Overvaluing Property

The IRS treats inflated property values as a serious compliance problem, and the penalties scale fast. If your stated value is 150% or more of actual value, you face a 20% accuracy-related penalty on the resulting tax underpayment. At 200% or more, the penalty doubles to 40%.³

At the 150% level, you can avoid the penalty by showing you obtained a qualified appraisal and made a good-faith investigation of value.¹⁷ That defense disappears at 200%; no amount of good faith prevents the 40% penalty at the gross misstatement level. Appraisers who help overstate values face separate penalties and potential disbarment from IRS practice.¹⁸ The cost of an independent appraisal is modest compared to a disallowed deduction stacked on top of a 40% penalty and the tax originally owed.

1
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
2
Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments
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Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Purposes – Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)
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Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search
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Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contributions – Quid Pro Quo Contributions
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Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates
8
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1222 – Other Terms Relating to Capital Gains and Losses
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283 (12/2025)
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
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Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Organizations – Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements
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Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contributions – Written Acknowledgments
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025)
15
Internal Revenue Service. About Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions
16
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
17
Internal Revenue Service. Reasonable Cause and Good Faith
18
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.170A-17 – Qualified Appraisal and Qualified Appraiser