Introduction

This publication explains how to claim a deduction for your charitable contributions. It discusses organizations that are qualified to receive deductible charitable contributions, the types of contributions you can deduct, how much you can deduct, what records to keep, and how to report charitable contributions. A charitable contribution is a donation or gift to, or for the use of, a qualified organization. It is voluntary and is made without getting, or expecting to get, anything of equal value.

Qualified organizations.    Qualified organizations include nonprofit groups that are religious, charitable, educational, scientific, or literary in purpose, or that work to prevent cruelty to children or animals. You will find descriptions of these organizations under Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible Contributions.

Form 1040 required.    To deduct a charitable contribution, you must file Form 1040 and itemize deductions on Schedule A. The amount of your deduction may be limited if certain rules and limits explained in this publication apply to you.

Comments and suggestions.   We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.

You can e-mail us while visiting our web site at www.irs.gov/help/email2.html.

You can write to us at the following address:

Internal Revenue Service
Technical Publications Branch
W:CAR:MP:FP:P
1111 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20224

We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number, including the area code, in your correspondence.

Useful Items You may want to see:

Publication

• 78   Cumulative List of Organizations
• 561   Determining the Value of Donated Property

Form (and Instructions)

• Schedule A (Form 1040)   Itemized Deductions
• 8283   Noncash Charitable Contributions

See How To Get Tax Help near the end of this publication for information about getting these publications and forms.

Table 1 - Examples of contributions

Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible Contributions

You can deduct your contributions only if you make them to a qualified organization. To become a qualified organization, most organizations other than churches and governments, as described below, must apply to the IRS.

Publication 78.    You can ask any organization whether it is a qualified organization, and most will be able to tell you. Or you can check IRS Publication 78, which lists most qualified organizations. You may find Publication 78 in your local library's reference section. If not, you can call the IRS to find out if an organization is qualified. Call 1-800-829-1040. (For TTY/TDD help, call 1-800-829-4059.)

Types of Qualified Organizations

Generally, only the five following types of organizations can be qualified organizations.

1. A community chest, corporation, trust, fund, or foundation organized or created in or under the laws of the United States, any state, the District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States (including Puerto Rico). It must be organized and operated only for one or more of the following purposes.
   1. Religious.
   2. Charitable.
   3. Educational.
   4. Scientific.
   5. Literary.
   6. The prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
   Certain organizations that foster national or international amateur sports competition also qualify.
2. War veterans' organizations, including posts, auxiliaries, trusts, or foundations, organized in the United States or any of its possessions.
3. Domestic fraternal societies, orders, and associations operating under the lodge system. Note. Your contribution to this type of organization is deductible only if it is to be used solely for charitable, religious, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
4. Certain nonprofit cemetery companies or corporations. Note. Your contribution to this type of organization is not deductible if it can be used for the care of a specific lot or mausoleum crypt.
5. The United States or any state, the District of Columbia, a U.S. possession (including Puerto Rico), a political subdivision of a state or U.S. possession, or an Indian tribal government or any of its subdivisions that perform substantial government functions. Note.To be deductible, your contribution to this type of organization must be made solely for public purposes. Example 1. You contribute cash to your city's police department to be used as a reward for information about a crime. The city police department is a qualified organization, and your contribution is for a public purpose. You can deduct your contribution. Example 2. You make a voluntary contribution to the social security trust fund, not earmarked for a specific account. Because the trust fund is part of the U.S. Government, you contributed to a qualified organization. You can deduct your contribution.

Examples.   The following lists gives some examples of qualified organizations.

• Churches, a convention or association of churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and other religious organizations.
• Most nonprofit charitable organizations such as the Red Cross and the United Way.
• Most nonprofit educational organizations, including the Girl (and Boy) Scouts of America, colleges, museums, and day-care centers if substantially all the child care provided is to enable individuals (the parents) to be gainfully employed and the services are available to the general public. However, if your contribution is a substitute for tuition or other enrollment fee, it is not deductible as a charitable contribution, as explained later under Contributions You Cannot Deduct.
• Nonprofit hospitals and medical research organizations.
• Utility company emergency energy programs, if the utility company is an agent for a charitable organization that assists individuals with emergency energy needs.
• Nonprofit volunteer fire companies.
• Public parks and recreation facilities.
• Civil defense organizations.

Canadian charities.   You may be able to deduct contributions to certain Canadian charitable organizations covered under an income tax treaty with Canada.

To deduct your contribution to a Canadian charity, you generally must have income from sources in Canada. See Publication 597, Information on the United States-Canada Income Tax Treaty, for information on how to figure your deduction.

Mexican charities.   You may be able to deduct contributions to certain Mexican charitable organizations under an income tax treaty with Mexico.

The organization must meet tests that are essentially the same as the tests that qualify U.S. organizations to receive deductible contributions. The organization may be able to tell you if it meets these tests.

If not, you can get general information about the tests the organization must meet by writing to the:

Internal Revenue Service
International Returns Section
P.O. Box 920
Bensalem, PA 19020-8518.

To deduct your contribution to a Mexican charity, you must have income from sources in Mexico. The limits described in Limits on Deductions, later, apply and are figured using your income from Mexican sources. Those limits also apply to all your charitable contributions, as described in that discussion.

Israeli charities.   You may be able to deduct contributions to certain Israeli charitable organizations under an income tax treaty with Israel. To qualify for the deduction, your contribution must be made to an organization created and recognized as a charitable organization under the laws of Israel. The deduction will be allowed in the amount that would be allowed if the organization was created under the laws of the United States, but is limited to 25% of your adjusted gross income from Israeli sources.

Contributions You Can Deduct

Generally, you can deduct your contributions of money or property that you make to, or for the use of, a qualified organization. A gift or contribution is for the use of a qualified organization when it is held in a legally enforceable trust for the qualified organization or in a similar legal arrangement.

The contributions must be made to a qualified organization and not set aside for use by a specific person.

If you give property to a qualified organization, you generally can deduct the fair market value of the property at the time of the contribution. See Contributions of Property, later.

Your deduction for charitable contributions is generally limited to 50% of your adjusted gross income, but in some cases 20% and 30% limits may apply. See Limits on Deductions, later.

The total of your charitable contributions deduction and certain other itemized deductions may be limited. See the instructions for Form 1040 for more information.

Table 1 in this publication lists some examples of contributions you can deduct and some that you cannot deduct.

Contributions From Which You Benefit

If you receive a benefit as a result of making a contribution to a qualified organization, you can deduct only the amount of your contribution that is more than the value of the benefit you receive. Also see Contributions From Which You Benefit under Contributions You Cannot Deduct, later.

If you pay more than fair market value to a qualified organization for merchandise, goods, or services, the amount you pay that is more than the value of the item can be a charitable contribution. For the excess amount to qualify, you must pay it with the intent to make a charitable contribution.

Example 1.   You pay $65 for a ticket to a dinner-dance at a church. All the proceeds of the function go to the church. The ticket to the dinner-dance has a fair market value of $25. When you buy your ticket, you know that its value is less than your payment. To figure the amount of your charitable contribution, you subtract the value of the benefit you receive ($25) from your total payment ($65). You can deduct $40 as a charitable contribution to the church.

Example 2.   At a fund-raising auction conducted by a charity, you pay $600 for a week's stay at a beach house. The amount you pay is no more than the fair rental value. You have not made a deductible charitable contribution.

Athletic events.   If you make a payment to, or for the benefit of, a college or university and, as a result, you receive the right to buy tickets to an athletic event in the athletic stadium of the college or university, you can deduct 80% of the payment as a charitable contribution.

If any part of your payment is for tickets (rather than the right to buy tickets), that part is not deductible. In that case, subtract the price of the tickets from your payment. 80% of the remaining amount is a charitable contribution.

Example 1.   You pay $300 a year for membership in an athletic scholarship program maintained by a university (a qualified organization). The only benefit of membership is that you have the right to buy one season ticket for a seat in a designated area of the stadium at the university's home football games. You can deduct $240 (80% of $300) as a charitable contribution.

Example 2.   The facts are the same as in Example 1 except that your $300 payment included the purchase of one season ticket for the stated ticket price of $120. You must subtract the usual price of a ticket ($120) from your $300 payment. The result is $180. Your deductible charitable contribution is $144 (80% of $180).

Charity benefit events.    If you pay a qualified organization more than fair market value for the right to attend a charity ball, banquet, show, sporting event, or other benefit event, you can deduct only the amount that is more than the value of the privileges or other benefits you receive.

If there is an established charge for the event, that charge is the value of your benefit. If there is no established charge, your contribution is that part of your payment that is more than the reasonable value of the right to attend the event. Whether you use the tickets or other privileges has no effect on the amount you can deduct. However, if you return the ticket to the qualified organization for resale, you can deduct the entire amount you paid for the ticket.

Even if the ticket or other evidence of payment indicates that the payment is a contribution, this does not mean you can deduct the entire amount. If the ticket shows the price of admission and the amount of the contribution, you can deduct the contribution amount.

Example.   You pay $40 to see a special showing of a movie for the benefit of a qualified organization. Printed on the ticket is Contribution - $40. If the regular price for the movie is $8, your contribution is $32 ($40 payment - $8 regular price).

Membership fees or dues.    You may be able to deduct membership fees or dues you pay to a qualified organization. However, you can deduct only the amount that is more than the value of the benefits you receive. You cannot deduct dues, fees, or assessments paid to country clubs and other social organizations. They are not qualified organizations.

Certain membership benefits can be disregarded.   Both you and the organization can disregard certain membership benefits you get in return for an annual payment of $75 or less to the qualified organization. You can pay more than $75 to the organization if the organization does not require a larger payment for you to get the benefits. The benefits covered under this rule are:

1. Any rights or privileges, other than those discussed under Athletic events, earlier, that you can use frequently while you are a member, such as:
   1. Free or discounted admission to the organization's facilities or events,
   2. Free or discounted parking,
   3. Preferred access to goods or services, and
   4. Discounts on the purchase of goods and services, and
2. Admission, while you are a member, to events that are open only to members of the organization if the organization reasonably projects that the cost per person (excluding any allocated overhead) is not more than a specified amount, which may be adjusted annually for inflation. (This is the amount for low-cost articles given in the annual revenue procedure with inflation adjusted amounts for the current year. You can get this figure from the IRS.)

Token items.   You can deduct your entire payment to a qualified organization as a charitable contribution if both of the following are true.

1. You get a small item or other benefit of token value.
2. The qualified organization correctly determines that the value of the item or benefit you received is not substantial and informs you that you can deduct your payment in full.

The organization determines whether the value of an item or benefit is substantial by using Revenue Procedure 90-12 and 92-49 and the revenue procedure with the inflation adjusted amounts for the current year.

Written statement.   A qualified organization must give you a written statement if you make a payment to it 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.

The organization can give you the statement either when it solicits or when it receives the payment from you.

Exception.   An organization will not have to give you this statement if one of the following is true.

1. The organization is:
   1. The type of organization described in (5) under Types of Qualified Organizations, earlier, or
   2. Formed only for religious purposes, and the only benefit you receive is an intangible religious benefit (such as admission to a religious ceremony) that generally is not sold in commercial transactions outside the donative context.
2. You receive only items whose value is not substantial as described under Token items, earlier.
3. You receive only membership benefits that can be disregarded, as described earlier.

Expenses Paid for Student Living With You

You may be able to deduct some expenses of having a student live with you. You can deduct qualifying expenses for a foreign or American student who:

1. Lives in your home under a written agreement between you and a qualified organization (defined later) as part of a program of the organization to provide educational opportunities for the student,
2. Is not your dependent or relative, and
3. Is a full-time student in the twelfth or any lower grade at a school in the United States.

You can deduct up to $50 a month for each full calendar month the student lives with you. Any month when conditions (1) through (3) above are met for 15 or more days counts as a full month.

Qualified organization.   For these purposes, a qualified organization can be any of the organizations described earlier under Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible Contributions, except those in (4) and (5). For example, if you are providing a home for a student through a state or local government agency, you cannot deduct your expenses as charitable contributions.

Qualifying expenses.   Expenses that you may be able to deduct include the cost of books, tuition, food, clothing, transportation, medical and dental care, entertainment, and other amounts you actually spend for the well-being of the student.

Expenses that do not qualify.   Depreciation on your home, the fair market value of lodging, and similar items are not considered amounts spent by you. In addition, general household expenses, such as taxes, insurance, repairs, etc., do not qualify for the deduction.

Reimbursed expenses.   If you are compensated or reimbursed for any part of the costs of having a student living with you, you cannot deduct any of your costs. However, if you are reimbursed for only an extraordinary or a one-time item, such as a hospital bill or vacation trip, that you paid in advance at the request of the student's parents or the sponsoring organization, you can deduct your expenses for the student for which you were not reimbursed.

Mutual exchange program.    You cannot deduct the costs of a foreign student living in your home under a mutual exchange program through which your child will live with a family in a foreign country.

Reporting expenses.   For a list of what you must file with your return if you deduct expenses for a student living with you, see Reporting expenses for student living with you under How To Report, later.

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