Charitable Tax Deductions (What Counts as a Contribution?)

If you’ve donated this year or are planning to, it’s important to know what qualifies as a charitable organization and an eligible donation when taking a charitable deduction.

Most of us are familiar with the idea of donating something to a charity and “writing it off.” But the rules around this tax deduction are not often talked about.

To help you plan and ensure you prepare your taxes correctly, we’ve outlined the basics of charitable tax deductions and what you need to know about donations before claiming them.

Key takeaways

• Donations must be made to eligible not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizations such as educational, religious, and literary institutions.
• Eligible donations include more than cash. You might also be able to write off donations for cars, clothing, art, and more.
• For donations of $250, you’ll need a written acknowledgment.
• Beginning in tax year 2026, the OBBBA has made it so you no longer have to itemize to take a deduction for your charitable contributions.

How does the IRS define a charitable contribution?

A charitable contribution is when you donate money (including securities or business ownership interests), goods or services to an organization and deduct the market value of the contribution on your income tax return. The IRS elaborates:

Here, “qualified organizations” is the phrase to pay attention to. The IRS does not allow you to “donate” money to your family member and deduct it from your income taxes. This also disqualifies contributions made to individuals through websites like GoFundMe.

Generally, the only charitable donation deductions you can take are donations made to not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, but not all nonprofits qualify. More specifically, an organization type must be either:

• Religious
• Educational
• Literary
• Charitable
• Scientific purpose or
• 501(c)(3) status from the IRS

If you are unsure whether an organization qualifies, use this IRS search tool to check eligibility.

Different Forms of Contributions

As noted, you are permitted to donate and deduct the value of things other than money. In addition to cash, you can also donate

• Cars
• Clothing
• Collections of valuable items
• Artwork
• Jewelry
• Securities
• Real estate

All of these may make you eligible for a tax deduction. There are limits, though. If the value of what you donate is $250 or more, you need to obtain and file a written acknowledgement from the qualified organization you donated to.

If the value of your noncash charitable contributions exceeds $500, you’ll need to include specific information about the charitable organization and what was donated when you file your tax return.

Need ideas for what to donate? Check out these deductible donations that aren’t clothes.

Volunteering

People often ask whether volunteer work entitles them to a tax deduction. As logical and justified as this may seem, it’s actually not eligible for a charitable tax deduction.

The value of your time is different from the value of someone else’s time, and the IRS can’t verify what you say your time is worth, or how many hours you really volunteered. Nor can you deduct any personal expenses connected with volunteering (like the cost of putting your children in daycare).

• Gas
• Oil
• Uniforms or supplies
• Air or bus transportation

Track those miles! In 2025, you can deduct 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

Required Forms & Paperwork

When it comes to making charitable contributions – and getting the deductions you are entitled to – documentation is everything. Any contribution (cash or noncash) of $250 or more requires that you get a “contemporaneous written acknowledgement” – in other words, a receipt – from the charity you donated to.

Then there’s IRS  Form 8283, which must be included with your tax return for noncash donations exceeding $500 in value, as well as noncash property worth more than $5,000. In the latter case, you’ll also need to get a “qualified appraisal” of the property.

Qualified appraisals are required or suggested for other noncash contributions as well. Donated artwork valued at $20,000 or more, for instance, requires that a signed appraisal be attached to your tax return.

Keep in mind that you’ll want to keep all the receipts or documentation of your donations. Not only will this ensure you have proof if you’re required to provide clarification to the IRS, but having these to refer back to will help you ensure you’re claiming the correct amount and reduce the likelihood of having to amend your return later.

“Quid Pro Quo” Contributions

Some charities try to “sweeten the deal” by offering incentives for people to donate more. This is where the IRS stands on “quid pro quo”:

“If your contributions entitle you to merchandise, goods or services, including admission to a charity ball, banquet, theatrical performance or sporting event, you can deduct only the amount that exceeds the fair market value of the benefit received.”

In other words: if the dinner or event ticket you receive is worth as much as whatever you donated, you won’t be able to take a deduction since you have to deduct the value of what you received from your donation.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t donate something – it means that if you made a donation and you received something in return, you need to be aware that you can’t deduct the full amount of the donation.

Requirements for Deducting Charitable Donations

Typically, if you make a charitable donation to a qualified charity, you can deduct the contribution if you are able to itemize your deductions and not claim the standard deduction. But the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has made some changes to how charitable deductions work.

Beginning in tax year 2026 (the taxes you file in 2027),even those taking the standard deduction can claim some of their donations when they file. If you claim the standard deduction, you will be able to deduct up to $1,000 (if filing single) or $2,000 (if you’re married filing jointly).

You’re able to itemize your deductions if your total eligible expenses, such as your home mortgage interest and property taxes, are more than the standard deduction. For tax year 2025, the standard deduction increased to $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married filing jointly. If you file as head of household, your standard deduction is increased to $23,625.

Is there a minimum for donations to be eligible for this write-off?

When you’re looking back at your donations, you’ll also want to make sure you meet the threshold to be able to write off your contributions. Beginning in 2026, you can only deduct charitable donations that exceed 0.5% of your adjusted gross income. So for taxpayers with an AGI of $70,000 or more, you can only deduct donations that exceed $350 (70,000 x 0.5%).

When is the cut-off for making donations to include them on your tax return?

As you plan to file, you might be considering ways to help you save more. Fortunately, you can make charitable donations to eligible organizations up to December 31 of the tax year. Any donations made January 1 and after will be counted toward next year’s tax deductions.

Don’t worry about knowing these tax rules. TurboTax will ask you simple questions about your personal situation and give you the tax deductions and credits you are eligible for based on your entries. If you have questions, you can connect live via a one-way video to a TurboTax Live tax expert with an average 12 years experience to get your tax questions answered. TurboTax Live tax experts are available in Spanish and English, year-round, and can even review, sign, and file your tax return.