Money you receive through a personal GoFundMe is generally not taxable. The IRS treats most crowdfunding contributions to individuals as gifts, and gifts are excluded from the recipient’s gross income.1Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances So the short answer to whether GoFundMe is taxable: usually no for personal fundraisers, but yes when donors get goods, services, or a stake in a business in return. Everything else on this page follows from that one distinction.
When the Money Counts as a Gift
The IRS has said crowdfunding contributions made from the contributors’ “detached and disinterested generosity,” where donors do not receive or expect to receive anything in return, may be gifts and are not includible in the recipient’s gross income.2Internal Revenue Service. Money Received Through Crowdfunding May Be Taxable
That covers most personal campaigns. A fundraiser for a friend’s cancer treatment, a family whose home burned down, or a parent trying to cover funeral costs all fit the gift category. Donors are giving because they want to help, not because they’re buying something. Recipients do not report those funds as income on Form 1040.
Recipients also don’t owe federal gift tax, no matter how much comes in. Gift tax is the donor’s problem, not the recipient’s, and even for donors it rarely applies in practice.3Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes
When the Money Becomes Taxable Income
Crowdfunding stops being a gift when it starts looking like a transaction. The IRS has noted that contributions to crowdfunding campaigns “are not necessarily a result of detached and disinterested generosity, and therefore may not be gifts.”2Internal Revenue Service. Money Received Through Crowdfunding May Be Taxable Common situations where the money is taxable:
- Donors receive goods or services in exchange for their contribution, such as a product, early access, or a creative work. That’s sales revenue.
- The campaign is raising money to start or grow a business. Those funds are generally business income even without explicit perks, because the purpose is profit rather than personal hardship.
- The organizer is being paid to perform work, such as consulting, tutoring, or freelance creative services. That’s compensation.
Taxable crowdfunding money gets reported on whichever form matches the type of income. Business income typically lands on Schedule C, and when it does, the 15.3% self-employment tax applies on top of regular income tax. Some organizers are caught off guard by that because they don’t think of a GoFundMe as self-employment, but the IRS looks at the substance of the transaction, not the platform.
What to Do If You Get a Form 1099-K
Receiving a Form 1099-K does not mean you owe tax. The form reports the gross amount processed through the platform and says nothing about whether the money is taxable.4Internal Revenue Service. Some Things to Know About Crowdfunding and Taxes But you can’t ignore it either, because the IRS gets a copy and their matching system will flag any amount that doesn’t appear on your return.
For a 1099-K that reports nontaxable crowdfunding proceeds, the IRS’s instructions are to report the transaction on Schedule 1 with two offsetting entries:
- Part I, Line 8z (Other Income): the gross amount from the 1099-K, described as “Form 1099-K Received for Non-Taxable Crowdfunding Distributions.”
- Part II, Line 24z (Other Adjustments): the same amount with the identical description.
The net effect on income is zero. You’ve acknowledged the 1099-K and explained why the money isn’t taxable.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Reminds Taxpayers of Important Tax Guidelines Involving Contributions and Distributions From Online Crowdfunding If part of the campaign really was taxable (perks, business funding), only the gift portion gets offset on Line 24z; the taxable share still flows to the correct income schedule.
When a 1099-K Should Even Appear
Crowdfunding platforms and their payment processors are treated as Third-Party Settlement Organizations and may be required to file Form 1099-K.6Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your Form 1099-K The threshold has changed several times. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill retroactively restored the original rule: platforms are not required to file a 1099-K unless gross payments to a recipient exceed $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeds 200. Both conditions have to be met.7Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues FAQs on Form 1099-K Threshold Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill A personal campaign that raises $15,000 from 300 donors clears the transaction count but stays under the dollar figure, so no 1099-K is required.
GoFundMe has said it does not report funds collected on personal fundraisers as earned income and does not issue tax documentation for those campaigns.8GoFundMe. Taxes for GoFundMe Organizers A payment processor handling the distribution can still issue one if the thresholds are met, and some states use lower thresholds than the federal rule.
There’s also a question of who gets the form when a campaign has both an organizer and a separate beneficiary. If the platform sends funds directly to the beneficiary, the 1099-K goes to the beneficiary. If the organizer receives the funds first and then passes them along, the 1099-K goes to the organizer.2Internal Revenue Service. Money Received Through Crowdfunding May Be Taxable An organizer holding a form for money that wasn’t really theirs can file a nominee Form 1099 naming the beneficiary as the actual recipient, using Form 1096 as the transmittal.9Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
Can Donors Deduct Their Contributions?
No, not for a personal campaign. A gift to an individual is not a charitable contribution under federal tax law, no matter how sympathetic the cause. The IRS states plainly that gifts to individuals are not deductible.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 506, Charitable Contributions
A crowdfunding donation is deductible only when it goes to a qualified organization under Section 170(c), which includes 501(c)(3) charities, religious organizations, and certain veterans’ groups.11Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contribution Deductions Some GoFundMe campaigns are set up to route donations to a registered charity, and those can qualify if the donor itemizes. Verify status through the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search before claiming anything. For contributions of $250 or more, keep a written acknowledgment from the charity itself showing the amount and whether anything was received in return; a GoFundMe receipt alone does not meet that requirement.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 506, Charitable Contributions
One trap even sophisticated donors miss: a campaign that runs donations through a 501(c)(3) but earmarks the money for one named person is not deductible. The IRS treats an earmarked contribution as a gift to the designated individual, not to the charity, and a deduction is allowed only when the charity has full control and discretion over the funds.12Internal Revenue Service. Conduit Organizations – Charitable Deductibility and Exemption Issues
Records to Keep
The IRS advises that anyone organizing or receiving crowdfunding funds keep complete records of the facts and circumstances of the fundraising and how the money was used, for at least three years.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Reminds Taxpayers of Important Tax Guidelines Involving Contributions and Distributions From Online Crowdfunding That’s the paperwork that backs up a “this was a gift” position if the IRS follows up.
Useful records include screenshots of the campaign page showing its purpose and confirming no perks were offered, platform reports listing individual donations, bank statements showing where the money went, and receipts for the underlying expenses. For a medical fundraiser, that means the medical bills and payment proof. For disaster recovery, the repair and replacement receipts. The goal is to show donors gave out of generosity, nothing was provided in return, and the funds were used in a way consistent with a personal gift rather than a business.