Disaster relief. You can deduct contributions earmarked for flood relief, hurricane relief, or other disaster relief to a qualified organization (defined later under Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible Contributions). However, you cannot deduct contributions earmarked for relief of a particular individual or family.

Written acknowledgment required. You can claim a deduction for a contribution of $250 or more only if you have a written acknowledgment of your contribution from the qualified organization or if you have certain payroll deduction records. For more information, see Records To Keep, later in this chapter.

Payment partly for goods or services. A qualified organization must give you a written statement if you make a payment that is more than $75 and is partly a contribution and partly for goods or services. The statement must tell you that you can deduct only the amount of your payment that is more than the value of the goods or services you received. It must also give you a good faith estimate of the value of those goods or services. See Contributions From Which You Benefit, later in this chapter, for more information.

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