Contents

What's New .................. 1

Reminders ................... 2

Introduction .................. 2

Organizations That Qualify To 

Receive Deductible 

Contributions .............. 2

Contributions You Can Deduct ....... 3

Contributions You Can't Deduct ...... 6

Contributions of Property .......... 7

When To Deduct .............. 14

Limits on Deductions ........... 14

Substantiation Requirements ...... 19

How To Report ............... 22

How To Get Tax Help ............ 23

Index ..................... 26

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments 

related to Pub. 526 (such as legislation enacted 

after we release it), go to IRS.gov/Pub526.

What's New

Disallowance of deduction for certain conservation contributions by pass-through 

entities. Subject to some exceptions, if you are 

a member of a pass-through entity (such as a 

partner in a partnership or a shareholder in an S 

corporation), and the amount of the 

pass-through entity’s qualified conservation 

contribution exceeds 2.5 times the sum of each 

member’s relevant basis, the contribution is not 

treated as a qualified conservation contribution 

and no one may claim a deduction for the contribution. Thus, your charitable conservation 

contribution deduction is disallowed. See Disallowance of deductions for certain conservation 

contributions by pass-through entities later.

Qualified charitable distribution one-time 

election. Beginning in 2023, you can elect to 

make a one-time distribution up to $50,000 from 

an individual retirement account to charities 

through a charitable remainder annuity trust, a 

charitable remainder unitrust, or a charitable gift 

annuity each of which is funded only by qualified charitable distributions. See Pub. 590-B for 

more information.

Department 

of the 

Treasury

Internal 

Revenue 

Service

Publication 526

Cat. No. 15050A

Charitable 

Contributions

For use in preparing

2023 Returns

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Feb 29, 2024
Reminders

Charitable contributions for non-itemizers. 

The temporary deduction for charitable cash 

contributions for taxpayers who do not itemize 

their tax returns has expired and is no longer 

available.

Deduction over $5,000. You must complete 

Section B of Form 8283 for each item—or group 

of similar non-cash items— for which you claim 

a deduction of over $5,000 except as provided 

in Deductions Over $5,000, later. The organization that received the property must complete 

and sign Part V of Section B, Form 8283.

Reduced deductibility of state and local tax 

credits. If you make a payment or transfer 

property to or for the use of a qualified organization and you receive or expect to receive a state 

or local tax credit or a state or local tax deduction in return, your charitable contribution deduction may be reduced. See State or local tax 

credit, later.

Photographs of missing children. The IRS is 

a proud partner with the National Center for 

Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC). Photographs of missing children selected by the 

Center may appear in this publication on pages 

that would otherwise be blank. You can help 

bring these children home by looking at the 

photographs and calling 800-THE-LOST 

(800-843-5678) or visiting www.missingkids.org 

if you recognize a child.

Introduction

This publication explains how individuals claim 

a deduction for charitable contributions. It discusses the types of organizations to which you 

can make deductible charitable contributions 

and the types of contributions you can deduct. It 

also discusses how much you can deduct, what 

records you must 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.

Schedule A (Form 1040) required. Generally, to deduct a charitable contribution, you 

must itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 

1040). 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 suggestions for future editions.

You can send us comments through 

IRS.gov/FormComments. Or, you can write to 

the Internal Revenue Service, Tax Forms and 

Publications, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, 

IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224.

Although we can’t respond individually to 

each comment received, we do appreciate your 

feedback and will consider your comments and 

suggestions as we revise our tax forms, instructions, and publications. Don’t send tax questions, tax returns, or payments to the above address.

Getting answers to your tax questions. 

If you have a tax question not answered by this 

publication or the How To Get Tax Help section 

at the end of this publication, go to the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant page at IRS.gov/

Help/ITA where you can find topics by using the 

search feature or viewing the categories listed.

Getting tax forms, instructions, and publications. Go to IRS.gov/Forms to download 

current and prior-year forms, instructions, and 

publications.

Ordering tax forms, instructions, and 

publications. Go to IRS.gov/Forms to order 

current forms, instructions, and publications; 

call 800–829–3676 to order prior-year forms 

and instructions. The IRS will process your order for forms and publications as soon as possible. Don’t resubmit requests you’ve already 

sent us. You can get forms and publications 

faster online.

Useful Items

You may want to see:

Publication

Determining the Value of Donated 

Property

Disaster Relief

Forms (and Instructions)

cdu(o) Itemized 

Deductions

Noncash Charitable Contributions

See How To Get Tax Help near the end of this 

publication for information about getting these 

publications and forms.

Organizations That 

Qualify To Receive 

Deductible 

Contributions

You can deduct your contributions only if you 

make them to a qualified organization.

How to check whether an organization can 

receive deductible charitable contributions. 

You can ask any organization whether it is a 

qualified organization, and most will be able to 

tell you. You can also check by going to 

IRS.gov/TEOS. This online tool will enable you 

to search for qualified organizations.

Types of Qualified 

Organizations

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

1. A community chest, corporation, trust, 

fund, or foundation organized or created in 

 561 

 976 

 Schedule A (Form 1040)

 8283 

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, however, be organized 

and operated only for charitable, religious, 

scientific, literary, or educational purposes, 

or for 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 (including Puerto Rico).

3. Domestic fraternal societies, orders, and 

associations operating under the lodge 

system. (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. (Your contribution to this 

type of organization isn't 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. (Your contribution to this type of organization is deductible only if it is to be 

used 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 list 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 American Red Cross and the 

United Way.

• Most nonprofit educational organizations, 

including the Scouts BSA, Girl Scouts of 

America, colleges, and museums. This 

also includes nonprofit daycare centers 

that provide childcare to the general public 

if substantially all the childcare is provided 

to enable parents and guardians to be 

gainfully employed. However, if your contribution is a substitute for tuition or other enrollment fee, it isn't deductible as a charitable contribution, as explained later under 

Contributions You Can't Deduct.

2 Publication 526 (2023)
• 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.

• Nonprofit organizations that develop and 

maintain 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 must generally have 

income from sources in Canada. See Pub. 597, 

Information on the United States–Canada Income Tax Treaty, for information on how to figure your deduction.

Mexican charities. Under the United States–

Mexico income tax treaty, a contribution to a 

Mexican charitable organization may be deductible, but only if and to the extent the contribution would have been treated as a charitable 

contribution to a public charity created or organized under U.S. law. 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.

Israeli charities. Under the United States–Israel income tax treaty, a contribution to an Israeli charitable organization is deductible if and to 

the extent the contribution would have been 

treated as a charitable contribution if the organization had been created or organized under 

U.S. law. To deduct your contribution to an Israeli charity, you must have income from sources 

in Israel. The limits described in Limits on Deductions, later, apply. The deduction is also limited to 25% of your AGI from Israeli sources.

Contributions You Can 

Deduct

Generally, you can deduct contributions of 

money or property you make to, or for the use 

of, a qualified organization. A 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 can generally deduct the fair market 

value (FMV) of the property at the time of the 

contribution. See Contributions of Property, 

later.

Your deduction for charitable contributions 

generally can't be more than 60% of your AGI, 

but in some cases 20%, 30%, or 50% limits may 

apply.

Table 1 gives examples of contributions you 

can and can't 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 Can't Deduct, 

later.

If you pay more than FMV to a qualified organization for goods or services, the excess 

may 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. Your entire $65 payment goes to the church. The ticket to the dinner dance has an FMV of $25. When you buy 

your ticket, you know its value is less than your 

payment. To figure the amount of your charitable contribution, 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 fundraising 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 haven't 

made a deductible charitable contribution.

Charity benefit events. If you pay a qualified 

organization more than FMV 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, the reasonable 

value of the right to attend the event is the value 

of your benefit. 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 doesn't 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).

State or local tax credit. If you make a payment or transfer property to or for the use of a 

qualified organization and receive or expect to 

receive a state or local tax credit in return, then 

the amount treated as a charitable contribution 

deduction is reduced by the amount of the state 

or local tax credit you receive or expect to receive in consideration for your payment or transfer, but an exception may apply. If an exception 

doesn’t apply, you must reduce your charitable 

contribution deduction even if you can’t claim 

the state tax credit in the year.

Exception. If the state or local tax credit 

you receive or expect to receive doesn’t exceed 

15% of your payment amount or 15% of the 

CAUTION

!

Examples of Charitable Contributions—A Quick Check

Use the following lists for a quick check of whether you can deduct a 

contribution. See the rest of this publication for more information and 

additional rules and limits that may apply.

Deductible As

Charitable Contributions

Not Deductible As

Charitable Contributions

Money or property you give to: Money or property you give to:

• Churches, synagogues, temples,

mosques, and other religious

organizations

• Federal, state, and local

governments, if your contribution is

solely for public purposes (for

example, a gift to reduce the public

debt or maintain a public park)

• Nonprofit schools and hospitals

• The Salvation Army, American Red Cross, CARE, 

Goodwill Industries, United Way, Scouts BSA, Girl 

Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, 

etc.

• War veterans' groups

Expenses paid for a student living with you, sponsored by a 

qualified organization

Out-of-pocket expenses when you serve a qualified 

organization as a volunteer

• Civic leagues, social and sports

clubs, labor unions, and chambers of

commerce

• Foreign organizations (except certain

Canadian, Israeli, and Mexican

charities)

• Groups that are run for personal

profit

• Groups whose purpose is to lobby for

law changes

• Homeowners' associations

• Individuals

• Political groups or candidates for

public office

Cost of raffle, bingo, or lottery tickets

Dues, fees, or bills paid to country clubs, lodges, fraternal 

orders, or similar groups

Tuition

Value of your time or services

Value of blood given to a blood bank

Table 1. 

Publication 526 (2023) 3
FMV of the transferred property, then your charitable contribution deduction isn’t reduced.

Example 1. You make a cash contribution 

of $1,000 to charity X, a qualified organization. 

In return for your payment you receive or expect 

to receive a state tax credit of 70% of your 

$1,000 contribution. The amount of your charitable contribution to charity X is reduced by 

$700 (70% of $1,000). The result is your charitable contribution deduction to charity X can’t 

exceed $300 ($1,000 donation−$700 state tax 

credit). The reduction applies even if you can’t 

claim the state tax credit for that year. Your deductible charitable contribution to charity X is 

$300. Your total contributions may still be subject to limitations. See Limits on Deductions, 

later.

Example 2. You donate a painting to charity Y, a qualified organization. At the time of the 

donation, the painting has an FMV of $100,000. 

In return for the painting, you receive or expect 

to receive a state tax credit of 10% of the FMV 

of the painting. The state tax credit is $10,000 

(10% of $100,000). The amount of your state 

tax credit does not exceed 15% of the FMV of 

the painting. As a result, your charitable contribution deduction to charity Y is not reduced. 

Your deductible charitable contribution for your 

noncash contribution to charity Y is $100,000. 

However, your total contributions may still be 

subject to limitations. See Limits on Deductions, 

later.

State or local tax deduction. If you make a 

payment or transfer property to a qualified organization and receive or expect to receive a 

state or local tax deduction in return, then the 

amount of your charitable contribution deduction to the organization may be reduced in some 

circumstances. If the amount of the state or local tax deduction exceeds the amount of your 

cash contribution or the FMV of the transferred 

property, then your charitable contribution deduction is reduced. However, if the amount of 

the state or local tax deduction doesn’t exceed 

the amount of your payment or the FMV of the 

transferred property, then no reduction is necessary.

Example 1. You make a cash contribution 

of $1,000 to charity Z, a qualified organization. 

Under state law, you are entitled to receive a 

state tax deduction of $1,000 in return for your 

payment. The amount of your charitable contribution deduction to charity Z isn’t reduced. Your 

charitable contribution deduction to charity Z is 

$1,000. However, your total contributions may 

still be subject to limitations. See Limits on Deductions, later.

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 can't deduct dues, fees, or assessments 

paid to country clubs and other social organizations. They aren't qualified organizations.

Certain membership benefits can be disregarded. Both you and the organization can 

disregard the following membership benefits if 

you get them in return for an annual payment of 

$75 or less.

1. Any rights or privileges that you can use 

frequently while you are a member, such 

as:

a. Free or discounted admission to the 

organization's facilities or events,

b. Free or discounted parking,

c. Preferred access to goods or services, and

d. Discounts on the purchase of goods 

and services.

But, item (1) doesn’t include rights to 

purchase tickets for seating at an athletic 

event in an athletic stadium of a college or 

university as a result of a contribution to 

such institution.

2. Admission, while you are a member, to 

events open only to members of the organization if the organization reasonably 

projects that the cost per person (excluding any allocated overhead) isn't more 

than $12.50.

Token items. You don't have to reduce your 

contribution by the value of any benefit you receive if both of the following are true.

1. You receive only 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 isn't 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 Procedures 90-12 and 92-49 and the inflation adjustment in Revenue Procedure 2022-38.

Written statement. A qualified organization 

must give you a written statement if you make a 

payment of more than $75 that is partly a contribution and partly for goods or services. The 

statement must say 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 won't have to 

give you this statement if one of the following is 

true.

1. The organization is:

a. A governmental organization described in (5) under Types of Qualified Organizations, earlier, or

b. An organization 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 isn't 

sold in commercial transactions outside the donative context.

2. You receive only items whose value isn't 

substantial, as described under Token 

items, earlier.

3. You receive only membership benefits that 

can be disregarded, as described under 

Membership fees or dues, 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. Isn't your relative (defined later) or dependent (also defined later), and

3. Is a full-time student in the 12th 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) 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 Types of 

Qualified Organizations, except those in (4) and 

(5). For example, if you are providing a home for 

a student as part of a state or local government 

program, you can't deduct your expenses as 

charitable contributions. But see Foster parents 

under Out-of-Pocket Expenses in Giving Services, later, if you provide the home as a foster 

parent.

Relative. The term “relative” means any of the 

following persons.

• Your child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your 

grandchild). A legally adopted child is considered your child.

• Your sibling(s), half sibling(s), or step-sibling(s).

• Your parent(s), grandparent(s), or other direct ancestor(s).

• Your step-parent(s).

• A child of your sibling(s).

• A sibling of your parent(s).

• The spouse of your child, the parent(s) of 

your spouse, the sibling(s) of your spouse.

Dependent. For this purpose, the term “dependent” means:

1. A person you can claim as a dependent, 

or

2. A person you could have claimed as a dependent except that:

a. The person received gross income of 

$4,700 or more;

b. The person filed a joint return; or

TIP

4 Publication 526 (2023)
c. You, or your spouse if filing jointly, 

could be claimed as a dependent on 

someone else's 2023 return.

Foreign students brought to this country under a qualified international education exchange program and placed 

in American homes for a temporary period generally aren't U.S. residents and can't be claimed 

as dependents.

Qualifying expenses. You may be able to deduct 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 don't qualify. You can't deduct depreciation on your home, the FMV of 

lodging, and similar items not considered 

amounts actually spent by you. Nor can you deduct general household expenses, such as 

taxes, insurance, and repairs.

Reimbursed expenses. In most cases, 

you can't claim a charitable contribution deduction if you are compensated or reimbursed for 

any part of the costs of having a student live 

with you. However, you may be able to claim a 

charitable contribution deduction for the unreimbursed portion of your expenses if you are reimbursed only for an extraordinary or one-time 

item, such as a hospital bill or vacation trip, you 

paid in advance at the request of the student's 

parents or the sponsoring organization.

Mutual exchange program. You can't 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.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses in 

Giving Services

Although you can't deduct the value of your 

services given to a qualified organization, you 

TIP

may be able to deduct some amounts you pay 

in giving services to a qualified organization. 

The amounts must be:

• Unreimbursed;

• Directly connected with the services;

• Expenses you had only because of the 

services you gave; and

• Not personal, living, or family expenses.

Table 2 contains questions and answers that 

apply to some individuals who volunteer their 

services. 

Underprivileged youths selected by charity. 

You can deduct reasonable unreimbursed 

out-of-pocket expenses you pay to allow underprivileged youths to attend athletic events, movies, or dinners. The youths must be selected by 

a charitable organization whose goal is to reduce juvenile delinquency. Your own similar expenses in accompanying the youths aren't deductible.

Conventions. If a qualified organization selects you to attend a convention as its representative, you can deduct your unreimbursed expenses for travel, including reasonable amounts 

for meals and lodging, while away from home 

overnight for the convention. However, see 

Travel, later.

You can't deduct personal expenses for 

sightseeing, fishing parties, theater tickets, or 

nightclubs. You also can't deduct travel, meals 

and lodging, and other expenses for your 

spouse or children.

You can't deduct your travel expenses in attending a church convention if you go only as a 

member of your church rather than as a chosen 

representative. You can, however, deduct unreimbursed expenses that are directly connected 

with giving services for your church during the 

convention.

Uniforms. You can deduct the cost and upkeep of uniforms that aren't suitable for everyday use and that you must wear while performing donated services for a qualified 

organization.

Foster parents. You may be able to deduct as 

a charitable contribution some of the costs of 

being a foster parent (foster care provider) if you 

have no profit motive in providing the foster care 

and aren't, in fact, making a profit. A qualified 

organization must select the individuals you 

take into your home for foster care.

You can deduct expenses that meet both of 

the following requirements.

1. They are unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses to feed, clothe, and care for the 

foster child.

2. They are incurred primarily to benefit the 

qualified organization.

Unreimbursed expenses that you can't deduct as charitable contributions may be considered support provided by you in determining 

whether you can claim the foster child as a dependent. For details, see Pub. 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

Example. You cared for a foster child because you wanted to adopt her, not to benefit 

the agency that placed her in your home. Your 

unreimbursed expenses aren't deductible as 

charitable contributions.

Church deacon. You can deduct as a charitable contribution any unreimbursed expenses 

you have while in a permanent diaconate program established by your church. These expenses include the cost of vestments, books, and 

transportation required in order to serve in the 

program as either a deacon candidate or an ordained deacon.

Car expenses. You can deduct as a charitable 

contribution any unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses, such as the cost of gas and oil, directly 

related to the use of your car in giving services 

to a charitable organization. You can't deduct 

general repair and maintenance expenses, depreciation, registration fees, or the costs of tires 

or insurance.

If you don't want to deduct your actual expenses, you can use a standard mileage rate of 

14 cents a mile to figure your contribution.

You can deduct parking fees and tolls 

whether you use your actual expenses or the 

standard mileage rate.

You must keep reliable written records of 

your car expenses. For more information, see 

Car expenses under Substantiation Requirements, later.

Volunteers' Questions and Answers

If you volunteer for a qualified organization, the following questions and answers may apply to you. All of the 

rules explained in this publication also apply. See, in particular, Out-of-Pocket Expenses in Giving Services.

Question Answer

I volunteer 6 hours a week in the office of a qualified organization. The receptionist is paid 

$10 an hour for the same work. Can I deduct $60 a week for my time?

No, you can't deduct the value of your time or services.

The office is 30 miles from my home. Can I deduct any of my car expenses for these trips? Yes, you can deduct the costs of gas and oil that are directly related to

getting to and from the place where you volunteer. If you don't

want to figure your actual costs, you can deduct 14 cents for each

mile.

I volunteer as a Red Cross nurse's aide at a hospital. Can I deduct the cost of the uniforms I 

must wear?

Yes, you can deduct the cost of buying and cleaning your uniforms if

the hospital is a qualified organization, the uniforms aren't suitable for

everyday use, and you must wear them when volunteering.

I pay a babysitter to watch my children while I volunteer for a qualified organization. Can I 

deduct these costs?

No, you can't deduct payments for childcare expenses as a

charitable contribution, even if you would be unable to volunteer without childcare. (If you 

have childcare expenses so you can work for pay, see Pub. 503, Child and Dependent Care 

Expenses.)

Table 2. 

Publication 526 (2023) 5
Travel. Generally, you can claim a charitable 

contribution deduction for travel expenses necessarily incurred while you are away from home 

performing services for a qualified organization 

only if there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the 

travel. This applies whether you pay the expenses directly or indirectly. You are paying the expenses indirectly if you make a payment to the 

qualified organization and the organization pays 

for your travel expenses.

The deduction for travel expenses won't be 

denied simply because you enjoy providing 

services to the qualified organization. Even if 

you enjoy the trip, you can take a charitable 

contribution deduction for your travel expenses 

if you are on duty in a genuine and substantial 

sense throughout the trip. However, if you have 

only nominal duties, or if for significant parts of 

the trip you don't have any duties, you can't deduct your travel expenses.

Example 1. You are a troop leader for a 

tax-exempt youth group and you take the group 

on a camping trip. You are responsible for overseeing the setup of the camp and for providing 

adult supervision for other activities during the 

entire trip. You participate in the activities of the 

group and enjoy your time with them. You oversee the breaking of camp and you transport the 

group home. You can deduct your travel expenses.

Example 2. You sail from one island to another and spend 8 hours a day counting whales 

and other forms of marine life. The project is 

sponsored by a qualified organization. In most 

circumstances, you can't deduct your expenses.

Example 3. You work for several hours 

each morning on an archeological dig sponsored by a qualified organization. The rest of 

the day is free for recreation and sightseeing. 

You can't take a charitable contribution deduction even though you work very hard during 

those few hours.

Example 4. You spend the entire day attending a qualified organization's regional meeting as a chosen representative. In the evening 

you go to the theater. You can claim your travel 

expenses as charitable contributions, but you 

can't claim the cost of your evening at the theater.

Daily allowance (per diem). If you provide 

services for a qualified organization and receive 

a daily allowance to cover reasonable travel expenses, including meals and lodging while away 

from home overnight, you must include in income any part of the allowance that is more 

than your deductible travel expenses. You may 

be able to deduct any necessary travel expenses that are more than the allowance.

Deductible travel expenses. These include:

• Air, rail, and bus transportation;

• Out-of-pocket expenses for your car;

• Taxi fares or other costs of transportation 

between the airport or station and your hotel;

• Lodging costs; and

• The cost of meals.

Because these travel expenses aren't business-related, they aren't subject to the same 

limits as business-related expenses. For information on business travel expenses, see Travel 

in Pub. 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses.

Expenses of Whaling 

Captains

You may be able to deduct as a charitable contribution any reasonable and necessary whaling 

expenses you pay during the year to carry out 

sanctioned whaling activities. The deduction is 

limited to $10,000 a year. To claim the deduction, you must be recognized by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission as a whaling captain 

charged with the responsibility of maintaining 

and carrying out sanctioned whaling activities.

Sanctioned whaling activities are subsistence bowhead whale hunting activities conducted under the management plan of the 

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.

Whaling expenses include expenses for:

• Acquiring and maintaining whaling boats, 

weapons, and gear used in sanctioned 

whaling activities;

• Supplying food for the crew and other provisions for carrying out these activities; and

• Storing and distributing the catch from 

these activities.

You must keep records showing the 

time, place, date, amount, and nature 

of the expenses. For details, see Revenue Procedure 2006-50, 2006-47 I.R.B. 944, 

available at IRS.gov/irb/

2006-47_IRB#RP-2006-50.

Contributions You Can't 

Deduct

There are some contributions you can't deduct 

and others you can deduct only in part.

You can't deduct as a charitable contribution:

1. A contribution to a specific individual,

2. A contribution to a nonqualified organization,

3. The part of a contribution from which you 

receive or expect to receive a benefit,

4. The value of your time or services,

5. Your personal expenses,

6. A qualified charitable distribution from an 

individual retirement arrangement (IRA),

7. Appraisal fees,

8. Certain contributions to donor-advised 

funds,

9. Certain contributions of partial interests in 

property, or

10. Certain conservation contributions by 

pass-through entities.

Detailed discussions of these items follow.

RECORDS

Contributions to Individuals

You can't deduct contributions to specific individuals, including the following.

• Contributions to fraternal societies made 

for the purpose of paying medical or burial 

expenses of members.

• Contributions to individuals who are needy 

or worthy. You can't deduct these contributions even if you make them to a qualified 

organization for the benefit of a specific 

person. But you can deduct a contribution 

to a qualified organization that helps needy 

or worthy individuals if you don't indicate 

that your contribution is for a specific person.

Example. You can deduct contributions 

to a qualified organization for flood relief, 

hurricane relief, or other disaster relief. 

However, you can’t deduct contributions 

earmarked for relief of a particular individual or family.

• Payments to a member of the clergy that 

can be spent as they wish, such as for personal expenses.

• Expenses you paid for another person who 

provided services to a qualified organization.

Example. Your child does missionary 

work. You pay their expenses. You can’t 

claim a deduction for the expenses you 

paid related to their contribution of services.

• Payments to a hospital that are for a specific patient's care or for services for a specific patient. You can’t deduct these payments even if the hospital is operated by a 

city, state, or other qualified organization.

Contributions to 

Nonqualified Organizations

You can't deduct contributions to organizations 

that aren't qualified to receive tax-deductible 

contributions, including the following.

1. Certain state bar associations if:

a. The bar isn't a political subdivision of 

a state;

b. The bar has private, as well as public, 

purposes, such as promoting the professional interests of members; and

c. Your contribution is unrestricted and 

can be used for private purposes.

2. Chambers of commerce and other business leagues or organizations.

3. Civic leagues and associations.

4. Country clubs and other social clubs.

5. Foreign organizations other than certain 

Canadian, Israeli, or Mexican charitable 

organizations. (See Canadian charities, 

Mexican charities, and Israeli charities under Organizations That Qualify To Receive 

Deductible Contributions, earlier.) Also, 

you can't deduct a contribution you made 

to any qualifying organization if the contribution is earmarked to go to a foreign organization. However, certain contributions 

to a qualified organization for use in a program conducted by a foreign charity may 

6 Publication 526 (2023)
be deductible as long as they aren't earmarked to go to the foreign charity. For the 

contribution to be deductible, the qualified 

organization must approve the program as 

furthering its own exempt purposes and 

must keep control over the use of the contributed funds. The contribution is also deductible if the foreign charity is only an administrative arm of the qualified 

organization.

6. Homeowners' associations.

7. Labor unions.

8. Political organizations and candidates.

Contributions From Which 

You Benefit

If you receive or expect to receive a financial or 

economic benefit as a result of making a contribution to a qualified organization, you can't deduct the part of the contribution that represents 

the value of the benefit you receive. See Contributions From Which You Benefit under Contributions You Can Deduct, earlier. These contributions include the following.

• Contributions to a college or university if 

the amount paid is to (or for the benefit of) 

a college or university in exchange for tickets (or the right to buy tickets) to an athletic 

event in an athletic stadium of the college 

or university.

• Contributions from which you receive or 

expect to receive a credit or deduction 

against state or local taxes unless an exception applies. See State or local tax 

credit and State or local tax deduction, earlier.

• Contributions for lobbying. This includes 

amounts you earmark for use in, or in connection with, influencing specific legislation.

• Contributions to a retirement home for 

room, board, maintenance, or admittance. 

Also, if the amount of your contribution depends on the type or size of apartment you 

will occupy, it isn't a charitable contribution.

• Costs of raffles, bingo, lottery, etc. You 

can't deduct as a charitable contribution 

amounts you pay to buy raffle or lottery 

tickets or to play bingo or other games of 

chance. For information on how to report 

gambling winnings and losses, see Expenses You Can Deduct in Pub. 529.

• Dues to fraternal orders and similar 

groups. However, see Membership fees or 

dues under Contributions From Which You 

Benefit, earlier.

• Tuition, or amounts you pay instead of tuition. You can't deduct as a charitable contribution amounts you pay as tuition even if 

you pay them for children to attend parochial schools or qualifying nonprofit daycare centers. You also can't deduct any 

fixed amount you must pay in addition to, 

or instead of, tuition to enroll in a private 

school, even if it is designated as a “donation.”

• Contributions connected with split-dollar 

insurance arrangements. You can't deduct 

any part of a contribution to a qualified organization if, in connection with the contribution, the organization directly or 

indirectly pays, has paid, or is expected to 

pay any premium on any life insurance, annuity, or endowment contract for which 

you, any member of your family, or any 

other person chosen by you (other than a 

qualified charitable organization) is a beneficiary.

Example. You donate money to a qualified organization. The charity uses the 

money to purchase a cash value life insurance policy. The beneficiaries under the insurance policy include members of your 

family. Even though the charity may eventually get some benefit out of the insurance 

policy, you can't deduct any part of the 

donation.

Qualified Charitable Distributions

A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a 

distribution made directly by the trustee of your 

individual retirement arrangement (IRA), other 

than an SEP or SIMPLE IRA, to certain qualified 

organizations. You must have been at least age 

701/2 when the distribution was made. Your total 

QCDs for the year can't be more than $100,000. 

If all the requirements are met, a QCD may be 

nontaxable; however, if the QCD is nontaxable, 

you may not be able to claim it as a charitable 

contribution deduction. You may be able to 

claim a charitable contribution deduction if you 

claim the income you are deducting as a qualified contribution. See Pub. 590-B, Distributions 

from Individual Retirement Arrangements 

(IRAs), for more information about QCDs.

Qualified charitable distribution one-time 

election. For tax years beginning after 2022, 

you can elect to make a one-time distribution of 

up to $50,000 from an individual retirement account. This one-time distribution may be made 

through a charitable remainder trust, a charitable remainder unitrust, or a charitable gift annuity funded only by qualified charitable distributions.

Value of Time or Services

You can't deduct the value of your time or services, including:

• Blood donations to the American Red 

Cross or to blood banks, and

• The value of income lost while you work as 

an unpaid volunteer for a qualified organization.

Personal Expenses

You can't deduct personal, living, or family expenses, such as the following items.

• The cost of meals you eat while you perform services for a qualified organization, 

unless it is necessary for you to be away 

from home overnight while performing the 

services.

• Adoption expenses, including fees paid to 

an adoption agency and the costs of keeping a child in your home before the adoption is final. However, you may be able to 

claim a tax credit for these expenses. Also, 

you may be able to exclude from your 

gross income amounts paid or reimbursed 

by your employer for your adoption expenses. See Form 8839, Qualified Adoption 

Expenses, and its instructions, for more information.

Appraisal Fees

You can't deduct as a charitable contribution 

any fees you pay to find the FMV of donated 

property.

Contributions to 

Donor-Advised Funds

You can't deduct a contribution to a donor-advised fund if:

• The qualified organization that sponsors 

the fund is a war veterans' organization, a 

fraternal society, or a nonprofit cemetery 

company; or

• You don't have an acknowledgment from 

that sponsoring organization that it has exclusive legal control over the assets contributed.

There are also other circumstances in which 

you can't deduct your contribution to a donor-advised fund.

Generally, a donor-advised fund is a fund or 

account in which a donor can, because of being 

a donor, advise the fund how to distribute or invest amounts held in the fund. For details, see 

Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(18).

Partial Interest in Property

Generally, you can't deduct a contribution of 

less than your entire interest in property. For details, see Partial Interest in Property under Contributions of Property, later.

Contributions of 

Property

If you contribute property to a qualified organization, the amount of your charitable contribution is generally the FMV of the property at the 

time of the contribution. However, if the property 

has increased in value, you may have to make 

some adjustments to the amount of your deduction. See Giving Property That Has Increased in 

Value, later.

For information about the records you must 

keep and the information you must furnish with 

your return if you donate property, see Substantiation Requirements and How To Report, later.

Contributions Subject to 

Special Rules

Special rules apply if you contribute:

• Clothing or household items;

• A car, boat, or airplane;

• Taxidermy property;

• Property subject to a debt;

• A partial interest in property;

• A fractional interest in tangible personal 

property;

Publication 526 (2023) 7
• A qualified conservation contribution;

• A future interest in tangible personal property;

• Inventory from your business; or

• A patent or other intellectual property.

These special rules are described next.

Clothing and Household Items

You can't take a deduction for clothing or household items you donate unless the clothing or 

household items are in good used condition or 

better.

Exception. You can take a deduction for a 

contribution of an item of clothing or a household item that isn't in good used condition or 

better if you deduct more than $500 for it, and 

include a qualified appraisal prepared by a 

qualified appraiser and a completed Form 8283, 

Section B.

Household items. Household items include:

• Furniture and furnishings,

• Electronics,

• Appliances,

• Linens, and

• Other similar items.

Household items don't include:

• Food;

• Paintings, antiques, and other objects of 

art;

• Jewelry and gems; and

• Collections.

FMV. To determine the FMV of these items, 

use the rules under Determining FMV, later.

Cars, Boats, and Airplanes

The following rules apply to any donation of a 

qualified vehicle.

A qualified vehicle is:

• A car or any motor vehicle manufactured 

mainly for use on public streets, roads, and 

highways;

• A boat; or

• An airplane.

Deduction more than $500. If you donate a 

qualified vehicle with a claimed FMV of more 

than $500, you can deduct the smaller of:

• The gross proceeds from the sale of the 

vehicle by the organization, or

• The vehicle's FMV on the date of the contribution. If the vehicle's FMV was more 

than your cost or other basis, you may 

have to reduce the FMV to figure the deductible amount, as described under Giving Property That Has Increased in Value, 

later.

Form 1098-C. You must attach to your return Copy B of the Form 1098-C, Contributions 

of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes, (or 

other statement containing the same information as Form 1098-C) you received from the organization. The Form 1098-C (or other statement) will show the gross proceeds from the 

sale of the vehicle.

If you e-file your return, you must:

• Attach Copy B of Form 1098-C to Form 

8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return, and mail the 

forms to the IRS; or

• Include Copy B of Form 1098-C as a pdf 

attachment if your software program allows 

it.

If you don't attach Form 1098-C (or other 

statement), you can't deduct your contribution.

You must get Form 1098-C (or other statement) within 30 days of the sale of the vehicle. 

But if Exception 1 or 2 (described later) applies, 

you must get Form 1098-C (or other statement) 

within 30 days of your donation.

Filing deadline approaching and still no 

Form 1098-C. If the filing deadline is approaching and you still don't have a Form 

1098-C, you have two choices.

1. Request an automatic 6-month extension 

of time to file your return. You can get this 

extension by filing Form 4868, Application 

for Automatic Extension of Time To File 

U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. For 

more information, see the Instructions for 

Form 4868.

2. File the return on time without claiming the 

deduction for the qualified vehicle. After 

receiving the Form 1098-C, file an amended return, Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. 

Individual Income Tax Return, claiming the 

deduction. Attach Copy B of Form 1098-C 

(or other statement) to the amended return.

Exceptions. There are two exceptions to the 

rules just described for deductions of more than 

$500.

Exception 1—Vehicle used or improved 

by organization. If the qualified organization 

makes a significant intervening use of, or material improvement to, the vehicle before transferring it, you can generally deduct the vehicle's 

FMV at the time of the contribution. But if the 

vehicle's FMV was more than your cost or other 

basis, you may have to reduce the FMV to get 

the deductible amount, as described under Giving Property That Has Increased in Value, later. 

The Form 1098-C (or other statement) will show 

whether this exception applies.

Exception 2—Vehicle given or sold to 

needy individual. If the qualified organization 

will give the vehicle, or sell it for a price well below FMV, to a needy individual to further the organization's charitable purpose, you can generally deduct the vehicle's FMV at the time of the 

contribution. But if the vehicle's FMV was more 

than your cost or other basis, you may have to 

reduce the FMV to get the deductible amount, 

as described under Giving Property That Has 

Increased in Value, later. The Form 1098-C (or 

other statement) will show whether this exception applies.

This exception doesn't apply if the organization sells the vehicle at auction. In that case, 

you can't deduct the vehicle's FMV.

Example. You donate a used car to a qualified organization. You bought it 3 years ago for 

$9,000. A used car guide shows the FMV for 

this type of car is $6,000. However, you get a 

Form 1098-C from the organization showing the 

car was sold for $2,900. Neither Exception 1 nor 

Exception 2 applies. If you itemize your deductions, you can deduct $2,900 for the donation. 

You must attach Form 1098-C and Form 8283, 

Noncash Charitable Contributions, to your tax 

return.

Deduction $500 or less. If the qualified organization sells the vehicle for $500 or less and 

Exceptions 1 and 2 don't apply, you can deduct 

the smaller of:

• $500, or

• The vehicle's FMV on the date of the contribution. But if the vehicle's FMV was more 

than your cost or other basis, you may 

have to reduce the FMV to get the deductible amount, as described under Giving 

Property That Has Increased in Value, 

later.

If the vehicle's FMV is at least $250 but not 

more than $500, you must have a written statement from the qualified organization acknowledging your donation. The statement must contain the information and meet the tests for an 

acknowledgment described under Deductions 

of at Least $250 but Not More Than $500 under 

Substantiation Requirements, later.

FMV. To determine a vehicle's FMV, use the 

rules described under Determining FMV, later.

Donations of inventory. The vehicle donation 

rules just described don't apply to donations of 

inventory. For example, these rules don't apply if 

you are a car dealer who donates a car you had 

been holding for sale to customers. See Inventory, later.

Taxidermy Property

If you donate taxidermy property to a qualified 

organization, your deduction is limited to your 

basis in the property or its FMV, whichever is 

less. This applies if you prepared, stuffed, or 

mounted the property or paid or incurred the 

cost of preparing, stuffing, or mounting the 

property.

Your basis for this purpose includes only the 

cost of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the 

property. Your basis doesn't include transportation or travel costs. It also doesn't include the direct or indirect costs for hunting or killing an animal, such as equipment costs. In addition, it 

doesn't include the value of your time.

Taxidermy property means any work of art 

that:

• Is the reproduction or preservation of an 

animal, in whole or in part;

• Is prepared, stuffed, or mounted to recreate one or more characteristics of the animal; and

• Contains a part of the body of the dead animal.

Property Subject to a Debt

If you contribute property subject to a debt 

(such as a mortgage), you must reduce the 

FMV of the property by:

8 Publication 526 (2023)
1. Any allowable deduction for interest you 

paid (or will pay) that is attributable to any 

period after the contribution, and

2. If the property is a bond, the lesser of:

a. Any allowable deduction for interest 

you paid (or will pay) to buy or carry 

the bond that is attributable to any period before the contribution; or

b. The interest, including bond discount, 

receivable on the bond that is attributable to any period before the contribution, and that isn't includible in your income due to your accounting method.

This prevents you from deducting the same 

amount as both investment interest and a charitable contribution.

If the recipient (or another person) assumes 

the debt, you must also reduce the FMV of the 

property by the amount of the outstanding debt 

assumed.

The amount of the debt is also treated as an 

amount realized on the sale or exchange of 

property for purposes of figuring your taxable 

gain (if any). For more information, see Bargain 

Sales under Giving Property That Has Increased in Value, later.

Partial Interest in Property

Generally, you can't deduct a charitable contribution of less than your entire interest in property.

Right to use property. A contribution of the 

right to use property is a contribution of less 

than your entire interest in that property and 

isn't deductible.

Example 1. You own a 10-story office 

building and donate rent-free use of the top 

floor to a qualified organization. Because you 

still own the building, you have contributed a 

partial interest in the property and can't take a 

deduction for the contribution.

Example 2. You own a vacation home at 

the beach and sometimes rent it to others. For a 

fundraising auction at church, you donated the 

right to use the vacation home for 1 week. At the 

auction, the church received and accepted a 

bid equal to the fair rental value of the home for 

1 week. You can't claim a deduction because of 

the partial interest rule. The auction winner can't 

claim a deduction either, because of the received benefit equal to the amount of the auction winner’s payment. See Contributions From 

Which You Benefit, earlier.

Exceptions. You can deduct a charitable contribution of a partial interest in property only if 

that interest represents one of the following 

items.

• A remainder interest in your personal home 

or farm. A remainder interest is one that 

passes to a beneficiary after the end of an 

earlier interest in the property.

Example. You keep the right to live in 

your home during your lifetime and give 

your church a remainder interest that begins upon your death. You can deduct the 

value of the remainder interest.

• An undivided part of your entire interest. 

This must consist of a part of every substantial interest or right you own in the 

property and must last as long as your interest in the property lasts. But see Fractional Interest in Tangible Personal Property, later.

Example. You contribute voting stock 

to a qualified organization but keep the 

right to vote the stock. The right to vote is a 

substantial right in the stock. You haven't 

contributed an undivided part of your entire 

interest and can't deduct your contribution.

• A partial interest that would be deductible if 

transferred to certain types of trusts.

• A qualified conservation contribution (defined later).

For information about how to figure the value 

of a contribution of a partial interest in property, 

see Partial Interest in Property Not in Trust in 

Pub. 561.

Fractional Interest in Tangible 

Personal Property

You can't deduct a charitable contribution of a 

fractional interest in tangible personal property 

unless all interests in the property are held immediately before the contribution by:

• You, or

• You and the qualifying organization receiving the contribution.

If you make an additional contribution later, 

the FMV of that contribution will be determined 

by using the smaller of:

• The FMV of the property at the time of the 

initial contribution, or

• The FMV of the property at the time of the 

additional contribution.

Tangible personal property is defined later 

under Future Interest in Tangible Personal Property. A fractional interest in property is an undivided portion of your entire interest in the property.

Example. An undivided one-quarter interest in a painting that entitles an art museum to 

possession of the painting for 3 months of each 

year is a fractional interest in the property.

Recapture of deduction. You must recapture 

your charitable contribution deduction by including it in your income if both of the following 

statements are true.

1. You contributed a fractional interest in tangible personal property after August 17, 

2006.

2. You don't contribute the rest of your interests in the property to the original recipient 

or, if it no longer exists, another qualified 

organization on or before the earlier of:

a. The date that is 10 years after the 

date of the initial contribution, or

b. The date of your death.

Recapture is also required if the qualified organization hasn't taken substantial physical 

possession of the property and used it in a way 

related to the organization's purpose during the 

period beginning on the date of the initial contribution and ending on the earlier of:

1. The date that is 10 years after the date of 

the initial contribution, or

2. The date of your death.

Additional tax. If you must recapture your 

deduction, you must also pay interest and an 

additional tax equal to 10% of the amount recaptured.

Qualified Conservation 

Contribution

A qualified conservation contribution is a contribution of a qualified real property interest to a 

qualified organization to be used only for conservation purposes.

Qualified organization. For purposes of a 

qualified conservation contribution, a qualified 

organization is:

• A governmental unit;

• A publicly supported charity; or

• An organization controlled by, and operated for the exclusive benefit of, a governmental unit or a publicly supported charity.

The organization must also have the resources 

to monitor and enforce the conservation easement or other conservation restrictions. To enable the organization to do this, it must have 

documents such as maps and photographs that 

establish the condition of the property at the 

time of donation.

A publicly supported charity is an organization of the type described in (1) under Types of 

Qualified Organizations, earlier, that normally 

receives a substantial part of its support, other 

than income from its exempt activities, from direct or indirect contributions from the general 

public or from governmental units.

Qualified real property interest. This is any 

of the following interests in real property.

1. Your entire interest in real estate other 

than a mineral interest (subsurface oil, 

gas, or other minerals, and the right of access to these minerals).

2. A remainder interest.

3. A restriction (granted in perpetuity) on the 

use that may be made of the real property, 

such as a conservation easement.

Conservation purposes. Your contribution 

must be made only for one of the following conservation purposes.

• Preserving land areas for outdoor recreation by, or for the education of, the general 

public.

• Protecting a relatively natural habitat of 

fish, wildlife, or plants, or a similar ecosystem.

• Preserving open space, including farmland 

and forest land, if it yields a significant public benefit. The open space must be preserved either for the scenic enjoyment of 

the general public or under a clearly 

Publication 526 (2023) 9
defined federal, state, or local governmental conservation policy.

• Preserving a historically important land 

area or a certified historic structure.

Certified historic structures. A certified historic structure is a building that is listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places 

(National Register building) or a building that is 

located in a registered historic district and has 

been certified by the Secretary of the Interior as 

contributing to the historic significance of that 

district (historically significant building). If the individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places consists of a more than one building (e.g., a house, a garage, a mill complex, 

etc.), the Secretary of the Interior may have to 

certify which of the multiple buildings qualify as 

certified historic structures.

A registered historic district is any district listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A 

state or local historic district may also qualify as 

a registered historic district if the district and the 

enabling structures are certified by the Secretary of the Interior. You can claim a deduction 

for a qualified conservation contribution of a historically significant building. This contribution 

can take the form of a qualified real property interest that is an easement or other restriction on 

all or part of the exterior or interior of the building. You can claim a deduction for a qualified 

conservation contribution of a historically significant building. This contribution can take the 

form of a contribution of a qualified real property 

interest that is an easement or other restriction 

on all or part of the interior of the building. However, you cannot claim a deduction for a contribution of a qualified real property interest that is 

an easement or other restriction on the exterior 

of the building unless the easement or other restriction meets all of the following conditions:

1. The restriction must preserve the entire 

exterior of the building (including its front, 

sides, rear, and height) and must prohibit 

any change to the exterior of the building 

that is inconsistent with its historical character.

2. You and the organization receiving the 

contribution must enter into a written 

agreement certifying, under penalty of perjury, that the organization:

a. Is a qualified organization with a purpose of environmental protection, 

land conservation, open space preservation, or historic preservation; and

b. Has the resources to manage and enforce the restriction and a commitment to do so.

3. You must include with your return:

a. Form 8283, completed as specified in 

the instructions to Form 8283;

b. A signed Qualified appraisal, performed by a Qualified appraiser;

c. Photographs of the building's entire 

exterior;

d. A description of all restrictions on development of the building, such as 

zoning laws and restrictive covenants; 

and

e. The National Park Service project 

number (NPS #), if applicable. See 

the Form 8283 instructions for more 

information.

If you claim a deduction of more than 

$10,000 and donated an exterior restriction on a 

National Register building or historic district 

building, your deduction won’t be allowed unless you pay a $500 filing fee. See Form 

8283-V, Payment Voucher for Filing Fee Under 

Section 170(f)(13), and its instructions.

If you claimed the rehabilitation credit for a 

National Register building or historically significant building for any of the 5 years before the 

year of the qualified conservation contribution, 

your charitable deduction is reduced. For more 

information, see Form 3468, Investment Credit, 

and Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(14). 

For more information on how an NPS # applies 

to a certified historic structure, see Easements 

on certified historic structures, in the 

instructions for Form 8283.

Disallowance of deductions for certain conservation contributions by pass-through 

entities. Subject to three exceptions, if you are 

a member of a pass-through entity (such as a 

partner in a partnership or a shareholder in an S 

corporation) and the amount of a qualified conservation contribution by the pass-through entity exceeds 2.5 times the sum of each member’s relevant basis, the contribution is not 

treated as a qualified conservation contribution 

and no one may claim a deduction for the contribution. Thus, your charitable conservation 

contribution deduction is disallowed.

The pass-through entity must determine 

each member’s relevant basis. Relevant basis 

is, with respect to any member, the portion of 

the member’s modified basis in its interest in the 

pass-through entity which is allocable to the 

portion of the real property with respect to 

which the qualified conservation contribution is 

made. Modified basis is, with respect to any 

member, the adjusted basis in the member’s interest in the pass-through entity as determined:

1. immediately before the qualified conservation contribution;

2. without regard to the member’s share of 

any liabilities of the pass-through entity; 

and

3. by the pass-through entity after taking into 

account the adjustments described in 

items (1) and (2).

Exceptions. As before mentioned, there are 

three exceptions to this disallowance.

Exception 1—Contribution outside 

three-year period. This disallowance does not 

apply if the qualified conservation contribution 

is made at least three years after the latest of:

1. the last date on which the pass-through 

entity acquired any portion of the real 

property;

2. the last date any members of the 

pass-through entity acquired any interest 

in the pass-through entity; and

3. if the interest in the donating pass-through 

entity is held through one or more 

pass-through entities:

a. the last date any such pass-through 

entity acquired any interest in any 

other such pass-through entity, and

b. the last date on which any member in 

any such pass-through entity acquired 

any interest in such pass-through entity.

Exception 2—Family partnership. This 

disallowance does not apply to a qualified conservation contribution made by a family 

pass-through entity. Family pass-through entities are pass-through entities in which substantially all of the interests are held, directly or indirectly, by an individual and members of the 

family of such individual. For these purposes, 

members of the family are defined as the 

spouse of such individual and any individual described in Internal Revenue Code section 

152(d)(2)(A)–(G).

Exception 3—Historic structure. This disallowance does not apply if the purpose of the 

qualified conservation contribution is the preservation of a certified historic structure. See 

Certified historic structures, earlier.

More information. For information about determining the FMV of qualified conservation 

contributions, see Pub. 561 and the instructions 

for Form 8283. For information about the limits 

that apply to deductions for this type of contribution, see Limits on Deductions, later. For 

more information about qualified conservation 

contributions, see Regulations section 

1.170A-14.

Future Interest in Tangible 

Personal Property

You can't deduct the value of a charitable contribution of a future interest in tangible personal 

property until all intervening interests in and 

rights to the actual possession or enjoyment of 

the property have either expired or been turned 

over to someone other than yourself, a related 

person, or a related organization. But see Fractional Interest in Tangible Personal Property, 

earlier, and Tangible personal property put to 

unrelated use, later.

Related persons include your spouse, children, grandchildren, sibling(s), and parents. Related organizations may include a partnership or 

corporation in which you have an interest, or an 

estate or trust with which you have a connection.

Tangible personal property. This is any 

property, other than land or buildings, that can 

be seen or touched. It includes furniture, books, 

jewelry, paintings, and cars.

Future interest. This is any interest that is to 

begin at some future time, regardless of 

whether it is designated as a future interest under state law.

Example. You own an antique car that you 

contribute to a museum. You give up ownership, 

but retain the right to keep the car in your garage with your personal collection. Because you 

keep an interest in the property, you can't deduct the contribution. If you turn the car over to 

the museum in a later year, giving up all rights to 

10 Publication 526 (2023)
its use, possession, and enjoyment, you can 

take a deduction for the contribution in that later 

year.

Inventory

If you contribute inventory (property you sell in 

the course of your business), the amount you 

can deduct is the smaller of its FMV on the day 

you contributed it or its basis. The basis of contributed inventory is any cost incurred for the inventory in an earlier year that you would otherwise include in your opening inventory for the 

year of the contribution. You must remove the 

amount of your charitable contribution deduction from your opening inventory. It isn't part of 

the cost of goods sold.

If the cost of donated inventory isn't included 

in your opening inventory, the inventory's basis 

is zero and you can't claim a charitable contribution deduction. Treat the inventory's cost as 

you would ordinarily treat it under your method 

of accounting. For example, include the purchase price of inventory bought and donated in 

the same year in the cost of goods sold for that 

year.

A special rule applies to certain donations of 

food inventory. See Food Inventory, later.

Patents and Other Intellectual 

Property

If you donate intellectual property to a qualified 

organization, your deduction is limited to the basis of the property or the FMV of the property, 

whichever is smaller. Intellectual property 

means any of the following.

• Patents.

• Copyrights (other than a copyright described in Internal Revenue Code sections 

1221(a)(3) or 1231(b)(1)(C)).

• Trademarks.

• Trade names.

• Trade secrets.

• Know-how.

• Software (other than software described in 

Internal Revenue Code section 197(e)(3)

(A)(i)).

• Other similar property or applications or 

registrations of such property.

Additional deduction based on income. 

You may be able to claim additional charitable 

contribution deductions in the year of the contribution and years following, based on the income, if any, from the donated property.

The following table shows the percentage of 

income from the property that you can deduct 

for each of your tax years ending on or after the 

date of the contribution. In the table, “tax year 

1,” for example, means your first tax year ending 

on or after the date of the contribution. However, you can take the additional deduction only 

to the extent the total of the amounts figured using this table is more than the amount of the deduction claimed for the original donation of the 

property.

After the legal life of the intellectual property 

ends, or after the 10th anniversary of the donation, whichever is earlier, no additional deduction is allowed.

The additional deductions can't be taken for 

intellectual property donated to certain private 

foundations.

Tax year Deductible percentage

1 100% 

2 100% 

3 90% 

4 80%

5 70% 

6 60% 

7 50% 

8 40%

9 30% 

10 20% 

11 10% 

12 10% 

Reporting requirements. You must inform 

the organization at the time of the donation that 

you intend to treat the donation as a contribution subject to the provisions just discussed.

The organization is required to file an information return showing the income from the 

property, with a copy to you. This is done on 

Form 8899, Notice of Income From Donated Intellectual Property.

Determining FMV

This section discusses general guidelines for 

determining the FMV of various types of donated property. Pub. 561 contains a more complete discussion.

FMV is the price at which property would 

change hands between a willing buyer and a 

willing seller, neither having to buy or sell, and 

both having reasonable knowledge of all the relevant facts.

Used clothing. The FMV of used clothing and 

other personal items is usually far less than the 

price you paid for them. There are no fixed formulas or methods for finding the value of items 

of clothing.

You should claim as the value the price that 

buyers of used items actually pay in used clothing stores, such as consignment or thrift shops.

Also see Clothing and Household Items, 

earlier.

Example. You donated a coat to a thrift 

store operated by a place of worship. You paid 

$300 for the coat 3 years ago. Similar coats in 

the thrift store sell for $50. The FMV of the coat 

is $50. Your donation is limited to $50.

Household items. The FMV of used household items, such as furniture, appliances, and 

linens, is usually much lower than the price paid 

when new. These items may have little or no 

market value because they are in a worn condition, out of style, or no longer useful. For these 

reasons, formulas (such as using a percentage 

of the cost to buy a new replacement item) 

aren't acceptable in determining value.

You should support your valuation with photographs, canceled checks, receipts from your 

purchase of the items, or other evidence. Magazine or newspaper articles and photographs 

that describe the items and statements by the 

recipients of the items are also useful. Don't include any of this evidence with your tax return.

If the property is valuable because it is old or 

unique, see the discussion under Paintings, Antiques, and Other Objects of Art in Pub. 561.

Also see Clothing and Household Items, 

earlier.

Article of clothing or household item 

over $500 not in good used condition. Form 

8283, Section B, must be completed and the 

Form 8283 attached to the tax return if you are 

contributing a single article of clothing or household item over $500 that is not in good used 

condition. See the Form 8283 instructions for 

more information.

Cars, boats, and airplanes. If you contribute 

a car, boat, or airplane to a qualified organization, you must determine its FMV.

Qualified vehicle donation. You don’t 

need a written appraisal for a qualified vehicle — such as a car, boat, or airplane — if your 

deduction for the qualified vehicle is limited to 

the gross proceeds from its sale and you obtained a contemporaneous written acknowledgment (CWA), defined later. If you donate a qualified vehicle with a claimed value of more than 

$500, you can’t claim a deduction unless you 

attach to Form 8283 a copy of the CWA you received from the donee organization. See Qualified Vehicle Donations in the Instructions for 

Form 8283.

Boats. Except for small, inexpensive boats, 

the valuation of boats should be based on an 

appraisal by a marine surveyor or appraiser because the physical condition is critical to the 

value.

Cars. Certain commercial firms and trade 

organizations publish used car pricing guides, 

commonly called “blue books,” containing complete dealer sale prices or dealer average prices for recent model years. The guides may be 

published monthly or seasonally, and for different regions of the country. These guides also 

provide estimates for adjusting for unusual 

equipment, unusual mileage, and physical condition. The prices aren't “official” and these publications aren't considered an appraisal of any 

specific donated property. But they do provide 

clues for making an appraisal and suggest relative prices for comparison with current sales 

and offerings in your area.

These publications are sometimes available 

from public libraries, or from the loan officer at a 

bank, credit union, or finance company. You can 

also find used car pricing information on the Internet.

To find the FMV of a donated car, use the 

price listed in a used car guide for a private 

party sale, not the dealer retail value. However, 

the FMV may be less if the car has engine trouble, body damage, high mileage, or any type of 

excessive wear. The FMV of a donated car is 

the same as the price listed in a used car guide 

for a private party sale only if the guide lists a 

sales price for a car that is the same make, 

model, and year, sold in the same area, in the 

same condition, with the same or similar 

Publication 526 (2023) 11
options or accessories, and with the same or 

similar warranties as the donated car.

Example. You donate a used car in poor 

condition to a local high school for use by students studying car repair. A used car guide 

shows the dealer retail value for this type of car 

in poor condition is $1,600. However, the guide 

shows the price for a private party sale of the 

car is only $750. The FMV of the car is considered to be $750.

Large quantities. If you contribute a large 

number of the same item, FMV is the price at 

which comparable numbers of the item are being sold.

Example. You purchase 500 copies of a 

religious book for $1,000. The person who sells 

them to you says the retail value of these books 

is $3,000. If you contribute the books to a qualified organization, you can claim a deduction 

only for the price at which similar numbers of 

the same books are currently being sold. Your 

charitable contribution is $1,000, unless you 

can show that similar numbers of that book 

were selling at a different price at the time of the 

contribution.

Giving Property That Has 

Decreased in Value

If you contribute property with an FMV that is 

less than your basis in it, your deduction is limited to its FMV. You can't claim a deduction for 

the difference between the property's basis and 

its FMV.

Your basis in property is generally what you 

paid for it. If you need more information about 

basis, see Pub. 551, Basis of Assets. You may 

want to see Pub. 551 if you contribute property 

that you:

• Received as a gift or inheritance;

• Used in a trade, business, or activity conducted for profit; or

• Claimed a casualty loss deduction for.

Common examples of property that decrease in value include clothing, furniture, appliances, and cars.

Giving Property That Has 

Increased in Value

If you contribute property with an FMV that is 

more than your basis in it, you may have to reduce the FMV by the amount of appreciation 

(increase in value) when you figure your deduction.

Your basis in property is generally what you 

paid for it. If you need more information about 

basis, see Pub. 551.

Different rules apply to figuring your deduction, depending on whether the property is:

• Ordinary income property, or

• Capital gain property.

Ordinary Income Property

Property is ordinary income property if you 

would have recognized ordinary income or 

short-term capital gain had you sold it at FMV 

on the date it was contributed. Examples of ordinary income property are inventory, works of 

art created by the donor, manuscripts prepared 

by the donor, and capital assets (defined later, 

under Capital Gain Property) held 1 year or 

less.

Property used in a trade or business. 

Property used in a trade or business is considered ordinary income property to the extent of 

any gain that would have been treated as ordinary income because of depreciation had the 

property been sold at its FMV at the time of contribution. See chapter 3 of Pub. 544, Sales and 

Other Dispositions of Assets, for the kinds of 

property to which this rule applies.

Amount of deduction. The amount you can 

deduct for a contribution of ordinary income 

property is its FMV minus the amount that 

would be ordinary income or short-term capital 

gain if you sold the property for its FMV. Generally, this rule limits the deduction to your basis in 

the property.

Example. You donate stock you held for 5 

months to your synagogue. The FMV of the 

stock on the day you donate it is $1,000, but 

you paid only $800 (your basis). Because the 

$200 of appreciation would be short-term capital gain if you sold the stock, your deduction is 

limited to $800 (FMV minus the appreciation).

Exception. Don't reduce your charitable 

contribution if you include the ordinary or capital 

gain income in your gross income in the same 

year as the contribution. See Ordinary or capital 

gain income included in gross income under 

Capital Gain Property next, if you need more information.

Capital Gain Property

Property is capital gain property if you would 

have recognized long-term capital gain had you 

sold it at FMV on the date of the contribution. 

Capital gain property includes capital assets 

held more than 1 year.

Capital assets. Capital assets include most 

items of property you own and use for personal 

purposes or investment. Examples of capital assets are stocks, bonds, jewelry, coin or stamp 

collections, and cars or furniture used for personal purposes.

For purposes of figuring your charitable contribution, capital assets also include certain real 

property and depreciable property used in your 

trade or business and, generally, held more 

than 1 year. You may, however, have to treat this 

property as partly ordinary income property and 

partly capital gain property. See Property used 

in a trade or business under Ordinary Income 

Property, earlier.

Real property. Real property is land and 

generally anything built on, growing on, or attached to land.

Depreciable property. Depreciable property is property used in business or held for the 

production of income and for which a depreciation deduction is allowed.

For more information about what is a capital 

asset, see chapter 2 of Pub. 544.

Amount of deduction—General rule. When 

figuring your deduction for a contribution of capital gain property, you can generally use the 

FMV of the property.

Exceptions. However, in certain situations, 

you must reduce the FMV by any amount that 

would have been long-term capital gain if you 

had sold the property for its FMV. Generally, this 

means reducing the FMV to the property's cost 

or other basis. You must do this if:

1. The property (other than qualified appreciated stock) is contributed to certain private 

nonoperating foundations,

2. You choose the 50% limit instead of the 

30% limit for capital gain property given to 

50% limit organizations, discussed later,

3. The contributed property is intellectual 

property (as defined earlier under Patents 

and Other Intellectual Property),

4. The contributed property is certain taxidermy property, as explained earlier, or

5. The contributed property is tangible personal property (defined earlier) that:

a. Is put to an unrelated use (defined 

later) by the charity, or

b. Has a claimed value of more than 

$5,000 and is sold, traded, or otherwise disposed of by the qualified organization during the year in which 

you made the contribution, and the 

qualified organization hasn't made the 

required certification of exempt use 

(such as on Form 8282, Donee Information Return, Part IV). See also Recapture if no exempt use, later.

Contributions to private nonoperating foundations. The reduced deduction applies to 

contributions to all private nonoperating foundations other than those qualifying for the 50% 

limit, discussed later.

However, the reduced deduction doesn't apply to contributions of qualified appreciated 

stock. Qualified appreciated stock is any stock 

in a corporation that is capital gain property and 

for which market quotations are readily available on an established securities market on the 

day of the contribution. But stock in a corporation doesn't count as qualified appreciated 

stock to the extent you and your family contributed more than 10% of the value of all the outstanding stock in the corporation.

Tangible personal property put to unrelated 

use. Tangible personal property is defined earlier under Future Interest in Tangible Personal 

Property.

Unrelated use. The term “unrelated use” 

means a use unrelated to the exempt purpose 

or function of the qualified organization. For a 

governmental unit, it means the use of the contributed property for other than exclusively public purposes.

Example. If a painting contributed to an 

educational institution is used by that organization for educational purposes by being placed in 

12 Publication 526 (2023)
its library for display and study by art students, 

the use isn't an unrelated use. But if the painting 

is sold and the proceeds are used by the organization for educational purposes, the use is an 

unrelated use.

Deduction limited. Your deduction for a 

contribution of tangible personal property may 

be limited. See (5) under Exceptions, earlier.

Recapture if no exempt use. You must recapture part of your charitable contribution deduction by including it in your income if all the following statements are true.

1. You donate tangible personal property with 

a claimed value of more than $5,000, and 

your deduction is more than your basis in 

the property.

2. The organization sells, trades, or otherwise disposes of the property after the 

year it was contributed but within 3 years 

of the contribution.

3. The organization doesn't provide a written 

statement (such as on Form 8282, Part 

IV), signed by an officer of the organization 

under penalty of perjury, that either:

a. Certifies its use of the property was 

substantial and related to the organization's purpose, or

b. Certifies its intended use of the property became impossible.

If all the preceding statements are true, include in your income:

1. The deduction you claimed for the property, minus

2. Your basis in the property when you made 

the contribution.

Include this amount in your income for the year 

the qualified organization disposes of the property. Report the recaptured amount on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z.

Ordinary or capital gain income included in 

gross income. You don't reduce your charitable contribution if you include the ordinary or 

capital gain income in your gross income in the 

same year as the contribution. This may happen 

when you transfer installment or discount obligations or when you assign income to a qualified organization. If you contribute an obligation 

received in a sale of property that is reported 

under the installment method, see Pub. 537, Installment Sales.

Example. You donate an installment note 

to a qualified organization. The note has an 

FMV of $10,000 and a basis to you of $7,000. 

As a result of the donation, you have a 

short-term capital gain of $3,000 ($10,000 − 

$7,000), which you include in your income for 

the year. Your charitable contribution is 

$10,000.

Food Inventory

Special rules apply to certain donations of food 

inventory to a qualified organization. These 

rules apply if all the following conditions are 

met.

1. You made a contribution of apparently 

wholesome food from your trade or business. Apparently wholesome food is food 

intended for human consumption that 

meets all quality and labeling standards 

imposed by federal, state, and local laws 

and regulations even though the food may 

not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus, 

or other conditions.

2. The food is to be used only for the care of 

the ill, the needy, or infants.

3. The use of the food is related to the organization's exempt purpose or function.

4. The organization doesn't transfer the food 

for money, other property, or services.

5. You receive a written statement from the 

organization stating it will comply with requirements (2), (3), and (4).

6. The organization isn't a private nonoperating foundation.

7. The food satisfies any applicable requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

Cosmetic Act and regulations on the date 

of transfer and for the previous 180 days.

If all the conditions just described are met, 

use the following worksheet to figure your deduction.

Worksheet 1.

Donations of Food Inventory

See separate Worksheet instructions.

(Keep for your records)

 1. Enter FMV of the

donated food .................

 2. Enter basis of the donated

food .......................

 3. Subtract line 2 from line 1.

If the result is zero or less, stop here. 

Don't complete the rest of this 

worksheet. Your charitable 

contribution deduction for food is the 

amount on line 1 ...............

 4. Enter one-half of line 3 ..........

 5. Subtract line 4 from line 1 ........

 6. Multiply line 2 by 2.0 ............

 7. Subtract line 6 from line 5. If the result 

is less than zero, enter -0- ........

 8. Add lines 4 and 7 ..............

 9. Compare line 3 and line 8. Enter the 

smaller amount ...............

10. Subtract line 9 from line 1 ........

11. Enter 15% of your total net

income for the year from

all trades or businesses

from which food

inventory was donated ..........

12. Compare line 10 and line 11. 

Enter the smaller amount.

This is your charitable

contribution deduction

for the food ..................

Worksheet instructions. When determining 

the FMV to enter on line 1 of the worksheet, 

take into account the price at which the same or 

substantially the same food items (as to both 

type and quality) were sold by you at the time of 

the contribution. Don’t reduce this amount because the food wasn’t or couldn’t be sold by 

reason of your internal standards, lack of market, or similar circumstances. Also, don’t reduce 

this amount even though you produced the food 

exclusively for the purpose of transferring the 

food to a qualified organization.

If you don’t account for inventories under 

section 471 and you aren’t required to capitalize 

indirect costs under section 263A, you may 

elect, solely for the purpose of line 2 of the 

worksheet, to treat the basis of any apparently 

wholesome food as being equal to 25% of the 

FMV of such food.

Enter on line 11 of the worksheet, 15% of 

your net income for the year from all sole proprietorships, S corporations, or partnerships (or 

other entity that isn't a C corporation) from 

which contributions of food inventory were 

made. Figure net income before any deduction 

for a charitable contribution of food inventory.

If you made more than one contribution of 

food inventory, complete a separate worksheet 

for each contribution. Complete lines 11 and 12 

on only one worksheet. On that worksheet, 

complete line 11. Then compare line 11 and the 

total of the line 10 amounts on all worksheets 

and enter the smaller of those amounts on 

line 12.

If line 11 is smaller than line 10, you can 

carry over the excess as a qualifying food inventory contribution to the following year. You may 

be able to include the excess in your charitable 

contribution deduction for the food in each of 

the next 5 years in order of time until it is used 

up, but not beyond that time.

More information. See Inventory, earlier, for 

information about determining the basis of donated inventory and the effect on cost of goods 

sold. For additional details, see section 170(e)

(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Bargain Sales

A bargain sale of property is a sale or exchange 

for less than the property's FMV. A bargain sale 

to a qualified organization is partly a charitable 

contribution and partly a sale or exchange.

Part that is a sale or exchange. The part of 

the bargain sale that is a sale or exchange may 

result in a taxable gain. For more information on 

figuring the amount of any taxable gain, see 

Bargain sales to charity in chapter 1 of Pub. 

544.

Part that is a charitable contribution. Figure the amount of your charitable contribution in 

three steps.

Step 1. Subtract the amount you received 

for the property from the property's FMV at the 

time of sale. This gives you the FMV of the contributed part.

Step 2. Find the adjusted basis of the contributed part. It equals:

Adjusted basis of

entire property

Fair market value

of contributed part

Fair market value

of entire property



Publication 526 (2023) 13
Step 3. Determine whether the amount of 

your charitable contribution is the FMV of the 

contributed part (which you found in Step 1) or 

the adjusted basis of the contributed part 

(which you found in Step 2). Generally, if the 

property sold was capital gain property, your 

charitable contribution is the FMV of the contributed part. If it was ordinary income property, 

your charitable contribution is the adjusted basis of the contributed part. See Ordinary Income 

Property and Capital Gain Property, both earlier, for more information.

Example. You sell ordinary income property with an FMV of $10,000 to a mosque for 

$2,000. Your basis is $4,000 and your AGI is 

$20,000. You make no other contributions during the year. The FMV of the contributed part of 

the property is $8,000 ($10,000 − $2,000). The 

adjusted basis of the contributed part is $3,200 

($4,000 × ($8,000 ÷ $10,000)). Because the 

property is ordinary income property, your charitable deduction is limited to the adjusted basis 

of the contributed part. You can deduct $3,200.

Penalty

You may be liable for a penalty if you overstate 

the value or adjusted basis of contributed property.

20% penalty. The penalty is 20% of the 

amount by which you underpaid your tax because of the overstatement, if:

1. The value or adjusted basis claimed on 

your return is 150% or more of the correct 

amount, and

2. You underpaid your tax by more than 

$5,000 because of the overstatement.

40% penalty. The penalty is 40%, rather than 

20%, if:

1. The value or adjusted basis claimed on 

your return is 200% or more of the correct 

amount, and

2. You underpaid your tax by more than 

$5,000 because of the overstatement.

When To Deduct

You can deduct your contributions only in the 

year you actually make them in cash or other 

property (or in a later carryover year, as explained under How To Figure Your Deduction 

When Limits Apply, later). This applies whether 

you use the cash or an accrual method of accounting.

Time of making contribution. Usually, you 

make a contribution at the time of its unconditional delivery.

Checks. A check you mail to a charity is 

considered delivered on the date you mail it.

Text message. Contributions made by text 

message are deductible in the year you send 

the text message if the contribution is charged 

to your telephone or wireless account.

Credit card. Contributions charged on 

your bank credit card are deductible in the year 

you make the charge.

Pay-by-phone account. Contributions 

made through a pay-by-phone account are considered delivered on the date the financial institution pays the amount. This date should be 

shown on the statement the financial institution 

sends you.

Stock certificate. A properly endorsed 

stock certificate is considered delivered on the 

date of mailing or other delivery to the charity or 

to the charity's agent. However, if you give a 

stock certificate to your agent or to the issuing 

corporation for transfer to the name of the charity, your contribution isn't delivered until the date 

the stock is transferred on the books of the corporation.

Promissory note. If you issue and deliver 

a promissory note to a charity as a contribution, 

it isn't a contribution until you make the note 

payments.

Option. If you grant a charity an option to 

buy real property at a bargain price, it isn't a 

contribution until the charity exercises the option.

Borrowed funds. If you contribute borrowed funds, you can deduct the contribution in 

the year you deliver the funds to the charity, regardless of when you repay the loan.

Conditional gift. If your contribution depends on a future act or event to become effective, you can't take a deduction unless there is 

only a negligible chance the act or event won't 

take place.

If your contribution would be undone by a 

later act or event, you can't take a deduction unless there is only a negligible chance the act or 

event will take place.

Example 1. You contribute cash to a local 

school board, which is a political subdivision of 

a state, to help build a school gym. The school 

board will refund the money to you if it doesn't 

collect enough to build the gym. You can't deduct your contribution until there is no chance 

(or only a negligible chance) of a refund.

Example 2. You donate land to a city for as 

long as the city uses it for a public park. The city 

plans to use the land for a park, and there is no 

chance (or only a negligible chance) of the land 

being used for any different purpose. You can 

deduct your charitable contribution in the year 

you make the contribution.

Limits on Deductions

If your total contributions for the year 

are 20% or less of your AGI, you don't 

need to read the rest of this section. 

The remaining limits discussed in this section 

don't apply to you.

The amount you can deduct for charitable 

contributions is generally limited to no more 

than 60% of your AGI. Your deduction may be 

further limited to 50%, 30%, or 20% of your AGI, 

depending on the type of property you give and 

TIP

the type of organization you give it to. Starting 

with tax year 2022, your deduction for cash contributions is limited to 60% of your AGI minus 

your deductions for all other contributions. 

These limits are described in detail in this section.

Your AGI is the amount on Form 1040, 

line 11.

If your contributions are more than any of the 

limits that apply, see Carryovers under How To 

Figure Your Deduction When Limits Apply, later.

Out-of-pocket expenses. Amounts you spend 

performing services for a charitable organization may be deductible as a contribution to a 

qualified organization. If so, your deduction is 

subject to the limit applicable to donations to 

that organization. For example, the 30% limit 

applies to amounts you spend on behalf of a 

private nonoperating foundation.

Types of Qualified 

Organizations

For the purpose of applying the deduction limits 

to your charitable contributions, qualified organizations can be divided into two categories.

First category of qualified organizations 

(50% limit organizations). The first category 

includes only the following types of qualified organizations. (These organizations are also 

sometimes referred to as “50% limit organizations.”)

1. Churches and conventions or associations 

of churches.

2. Educational organizations with a regular 

faculty and curriculum that normally have a 

regularly enrolled student body attending 

classes on site.

3. Hospitals and certain medical research organizations associated with these hospitals.

4. Organizations that are operated only to receive, hold, invest, and administer property and to make expenditures to or for the 

benefit of state and municipal colleges and 

universities and that normally receive substantial support from the United States or 

any state or their political subdivisions, or 

from the general public.

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.

6. Publicly supported charities, defined earlier under Qualified Conservation Contribution.

7. Organizations that may not qualify as 

“publicly supported” but that meet other 

tests showing they respond to the needs 

of the general public, not a limited number 

of donors or other persons. They must 

normally receive more than one-third of 

their support either from organizations 

14 Publication 526 (2023)
described in (1) through (6), or from persons other than “disqualified persons.”

8. Most organizations operated or controlled 

by, and operated for the benefit of, those 

organizations described in (1) through (7).

9. Private operating foundations.

10. Private nonoperating foundations that 

make qualifying distributions of 100% of 

contributions within 21/2 months following 

the year they receive the contribution. A 

deduction for charitable contributions to 

any of these private nonoperating foundations must be supported by evidence from 

the foundation confirming it made the 

qualifying distributions timely. Attach a 

copy of this supporting data to your tax return.

11. A private foundation whose contributions 

are pooled into a common fund, if the 

foundation would be described in (8) but 

for the right of substantial contributors to 

name the public charities that receive contributions from the fund. The foundation 

must distribute the common fund's income 

within 21/2 months following the tax year in 

which it was realized and must distribute 

the corpus not later than 1 year after the 

donor's death (or after the death of the donor's surviving spouse if the spouse can 

name the recipients of the corpus).

You can ask any organization whether it is a 

50% limit organization, and most will be able to 

tell you. Also see How to check whether an organization can receive deductible charitable 

contributions, earlier.

Second category of qualified organizations. 

The second category includes any type of qualified organization that isn’t in the first category.

Limits

The limit that applies to a contribution depends 

on the type of property you give and which category of qualified organization you give it to. The 

amount of a contribution you can deduct is generally limited to a percentage of your AGI, but 

may be further reduced if you make contributions that are subject to more than one of the 

limits discussed in this section.

Your total deduction of charitable contributions can’t exceed your AGI. If your contributions are subject to more than one of the limits, 

you include all or part of each contribution in a 

certain order, carrying over any excess to a subsequent year (if allowed). See How To Figure 

Your Deduction When Limits Apply and Carryovers, later, for more information about ordering 

and carryovers.

Limit based on 100% of AGI

Qualified conservation contributions of 

farmers and ranchers. If you are a qualified 

farmer or rancher, your deduction for a qualified 

conservation contribution (QCC) is limited to 

100% of your AGI minus your deduction for all 

other charitable contributions. However, if the 

donated property is used in agriculture or livestock production (or is available for such production), the contribution must be subject to a 

restriction that the property remain available for 

such production. If not, the limit is 50%. For 

more information about applying the 50% limit 

to a QCC, see Qualified conservation contributions, later, under Limits based on 50% of AGI.

Qualified farmer or rancher. You are a 

qualified farmer or rancher if your gross income 

from the trade or business of farming is more 

than 50% of your gross income for the year.

Limit based on 60% of AGI

If you make cash contributions during the year 

to an organization described earlier under First 

category of qualified organizations (50% limit 

organizations), your deduction for the cash contributions is 60% of your AGI. See Cash Contributions for what is included in cash contributions.

This 60% limit doesn’t apply to noncash 

charitable contributions. See Noncash contributions to 50% limit organizations, later, if you 

contribute something other than cash to a 50% 

limit organization.

Example 1. You gave your temple a $200 

cash contribution. The limit based on 60% of 

AGI will apply to the cash contribution to the 

temple because it is an organization described 

earlier under First category of qualified organizations (50% limit organizations) and because 

the contribution was cash.

Example 2. You donated clothing to your 

synagogue with an FMV of $200. The limit 

based on 60% of AGI doesn’t apply because 

the contribution is not cash. Instead, a limit 

based on 50% of AGI discussed later will apply 

to the contribution to the synagogue because it 

is an organization described earlier under First 

category of qualified organizations (50% limit 

organizations).

“For the use of” contribution exception. 

A 30% limit applies to cash contributions that 

are “for the use of” the qualified organizations 

instead of “to” the qualified organization. A 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. See Contributions to the second 

category of qualified organizations or “for the 

use of” any qualified organization, later, under 

Limits based on 30% of AGI, for more information.

Limits based on 50% of AGI

There are two 50% limits that may apply to your 

contributions.

Noncash contributions to 50% limit organizations. If you make noncash contributions to 

organizations described earlier under First category of qualified organizations (50% limit organizations), your deduction for the noncash contributions is limited to 50% of your AGI minus your 

cash contributions subject to the 60% limit.

Capital gain property exception. A 30% 

limit applies to noncash contributions of capital 

gain property if you figure your deduction using 

FMV without reduction for appreciation. See 

Certain capital gain property contributions to 

50% limit organizations, later, under Limits 

based on 30% of AGI, for more information.

“For the use of” contribution exception. 

A 20% or 30% limit applies to noncash contributions that are “for the use of” the qualified organization instead of “to” the qualified organization. A 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. If the noncash contribution is capital gain property, see Limit based 

on 20% of AGI, later, for more information; otherwise, see Contributions to the second category of qualified organizations or “for the use of” 

any qualified organization, later, under Limits 

based on 30% of AGI, for more information.

Qualified conservation contributions. Your 

deduction for qualified conservation contributions (QCCs) is limited to 50% of your AGI minus your deduction for all other charitable contributions.

If you are a farmer or rancher, go to 

Qualified conservation contributions of 

farmers or ranchers, earlier, under Limits based on 100% of AGI, to see if that limit applies to your QCC instead.

Limits Based on 30% of AGI

These are two 30% limits that may apply to your 

contributions. The 30% limit for capital gain 

property contributions to a 50% limit organization is separate from the 30% limit that applies 

to your other contributions. Both are separately 

reduced by contributions made to a 50% limit 

organization, but the amount allowed after applying one of the 30% limits doesn't reduce the 

amount allowed after applying the other 30% 

limit. However, as a result of applying the separate limits, the total contributions subject to a 

30% limit will never be more than 50% of your 

AGI.

Example. Your AGI is $50,000. During the 

year, you gave capital gain property with an 

FMV of $15,000 to an organization described 

earlier under First category of qualified organizations (50% limit organizations). You don’t 

choose to reduce the property’s FMV by its appreciation in value. You also gave $10,000 cash 

to a qualified organization that is described earlier under Second category of qualified organizations (meaning it isn’t a 50% limit organization). The $15,000 contribution of capital gain 

property is subject to one 30% limit and the 

$10,000 cash contribution is subject to the other 

30% limit. The $10,000 cash contribution is fully 

deductible because the contribution is not more 

than the smaller of (i) 30% of your AGI 

($15,000) and (ii) 50% of your AGI minus all 

contributions to a 50% limit organization 

($25,000−$15,000 = $10,000). The $15,000 is 

also fully deductible because the contribution is 

not more than 30% of your AGI minus all contributions to a 50% limit organization subject to 

the 60% or 50% limit (other than qualified conservation contributions) ($25,000−$10,000 = 

$15,000). Neither amount is reduced by the 

other, so the total deductible contribution is 

TIP

Publication 526 (2023) 15
$25,000 (which is also not more than 50% of 

your AGI).

Contributions to the second category of 

qualified organizations or “for the use of” 

any qualified organization. If you make cash 

contributions or noncash contributions (other 

than capital gain property) during the year (1) to 

an organization described earlier under Second 

category of qualified organizations, or (2) “for 

the use of” any qualified organization, your deduction for those contributions is limited to 30% 

of your AGI, or if less, 50% of your AGI minus all 

your contributions to 50% limit organizations 

(other than contributions subject to a 100% limit 

or qualified conservation contributions). For this 

purpose, contributions to 50% limit organizations include all capital gain property contributions to a 50% limit organization (other than 

qualified conservation contributions), even 

those that are subject to the 30% limit, discussed later.

A 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.

If you make a contribution of capital gain 

property to an organization other than a 50% 

limit organization or “for the use of” any qualified 

organization, see Limit based on 20% of AGI, 

later.

Student living with you. Deductible 

amounts you spend on behalf of a student living 

with you are subject to this 30% limit. These 

amounts are considered a contribution for the 

use of a qualified organization. See Expenses 

Paid for Student Living With You, earlier, for 

more information.

Certain capital gain property contributions 

to 50% limit organizations. Your noncash 

contributions of capital gain property to 50% 

limit organizations is limited to 30% of your AGI 

minus all your contributions to 50% limit organizations that are subject to the 60% and 50% 

limits (other than qualified conservation contributions). The limit that applies to capital gain 

property contributions to 50% limit organizations doesn’t apply to qualified conservation 

contributions. If you are making a qualified conservation contribution (QCC), see Qualified 

conservation contributions and Qualified conservation contributions of farmers and ranchers, 

earlier, for the limits to apply to a QCC.

Election to apply the 50% limit. You may 

choose the 50% limit for contributions of capital 

gain property to organizations described earlier 

under First category of qualified organizations 

(50% limit organizations) instead of the 30% 

limit that would otherwise apply. See Capital 

gain property election, later, under How To Figure Your Deduction When Limits Apply, for more 

information about making this election and how 

to adjust the amount of your contribution.

Limit Based on 20% of AGI

If you make noncash contributions of capital 

gain property during the year (1) to an organization described earlier under Second category of 

qualified organizations, or (2) “for the use of” 

any qualified organization, your deduction for 

those contributions is limited to 20% of your AGI 

or, if less, the smallest of the following.

1. 30% of your AGI minus all your contributions that are subject to a limit based on 

30% of AGI.

2. 30% of your AGI minus all your capital gain 

contributions that are subject to the limit 

based on 30% of AGI.

3. 50% of your AGI minus all contributions 

subject to the limits based on 60%, 50%, 

and 30% of AGI (other than qualified conservation contributions).

A 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.

How To Figure Your 

Deduction When Limits 

Apply

If your contributions are subject to more than 

one of the limits discussed earlier, use the following steps to figure the amount of your contributions that you can deduct.

1. Cash contributions subject to the limit 

based on 60% of AGI. Deduct the contributions that don't exceed 60% of your AGI.

2. Noncash contributions (other than qualified conservation contributions) subject to 

the limit based on 50% of AGI. Deduct the 

contributions that don’t exceed 50% of 

your AGI minus your cash contributions to 

a 50% limit organization.

3. Cash and noncash contributions (other 

than capital gain property) subject to the 

limit based on 30% of AGI. Deduct the 

contributions that don’t exceed the smaller 

of:

a. 30% of your AGI, or

b. 50% of your AGI minus your contributions to a 50% limit organization (other 

than qualified conservation contributions), including capital gain property 

subject to the limit based on 30% of 

AGI.

4. Contributions of capital gain property subject to the limit based on 30% of AGI. Deduct the contributions that don’t exceed 

the smaller of:

a. 30% of your AGI, or

b. 50% of your AGI minus your contributions subject to the limits based on 

60% or 50% of AGI (other than qualified conservation contributions).

5. Contributions of capital gain property subject to the limit based on 20% of AGI. Deduct the contributions that don’t exceed 

the smaller of:

a. 20% of your AGI,

b. 30% of your AGI minus your contributions of capital gain property subject 

to the limit based on 30% of AGI,

c. 30% of your AGI minus your other 

contributions subject to the limit 

based on 30% of AGI, or

d. 50% of your AGI minus your contributions subject to the limits based on 

60%, 50%, and 30% of AGI (other 

than qualified conservation contributions).

6. Qualified conservation contributions subject to the limit based on 50% of AGI. Deduct the contributions that don’t exceed 

50% of your AGI minus any deductible 

contributions figured in (1) through (5).

7. Qualified conservation contributions of 

farmers and ranchers subject to the limit 

based on 100% of AGI. Deduct the contributions that don't exceed 100% of your 

AGI minus any deductible contributions 

figured in (1) through (6).

8. Carryovers of qualified contributions for relief efforts in a qualified disaster area subject to the limit based on 60% of AGI. Deduct the carryover contributions that don't 

exceed 60% of your AGI minus all your 

other deductible contributions.

These steps are incorporated into Worksheet 2.

Example. Your AGI is $50,000. In March, 

you gave your place of worship $2,000 cash 

and land with an FMV of $28,000 and a basis of 

$22,000. You held the land for investment purposes for more than 1 year. You don't make the 

capital gain property election for this year. See 

Capital gain property election, later. Therefore, 

the amount of your charitable contribution for 

the land would be its FMV of $28,000. You also 

gave $5,000 cash to a private nonoperating 

foundation to which the 30% limit applies.

The $2,000 cash donated to the your place 

of worship is considered first and is fully deductible. Your contribution to the private nonoperating foundation is considered next. Because the 

total of your cash contribution of $2,000 and 

your capital gain property of $28,000 to a 50% 

limit organization ($30,000) is more than 

$25,000 (50% of $50,000), your contribution to 

the private nonoperating foundation isn't deductible for the year. It can be carried over to later 

years. See Carryovers, later. The contribution of 

land is considered next. Your deduction for the 

land is limited to $15,000 (30% × $50,000). The 

unused part of the contribution ($13,000) can 

be carried over. For this year, your deduction is 

limited to $17,000 ($2,000 + $15,000).

Capital gain property election. You may 

choose the 50% limit for contributions of capital 

gain property to qualified organizations described earlier under First category of qualified organizations (50% limit organizations) instead of 

the 30% limit that would otherwise apply. If you 

make this choice, you must reduce the FMV of 

the property contributed by the appreciation in 

value that would have been long-term capital 

gain if the property had been sold.

This choice applies to all capital gain property contributed to 50% limit organizations during a tax year. It also applies to carryovers of 

this kind of contribution from an earlier tax year. 

16 Publication 526 (2023)
For details, see Carryover of capital gain property, later.

You must make the choice on your original 

return or on an amended return filed by the due 

date for filing the original return.

Example. In the previous example, if you 

choose to have the 50% limit apply to the land 

(the 30% capital gain property) given to your 

place of worship, you must reduce the FMV of 

the property by the appreciation in value. Therefore, the amount of your charitable contribution 

for the land would be its basis to you of 

$22,000. You add this amount to the $2,000 

cash contributed to the place of worship. You 

can now deduct $1,000 of the amount donated 

to the private nonoperating foundation because 

the total of your contributions of cash ($2,000) 

and capital gain property ($22,000) to 50% limit 

organizations is $1,000 less than the limit based 

on 50% of AGI. Your total deduction for the year 

is $25,000 ($2,000 cash to your place of worship, $22,000 for property donated to your place 

of worship, and $1,000 cash to the private nonoperating foundation). You can carry over to 

later years the part of your contribution to the 

private nonoperating foundation that you 

couldn't deduct ($4,000).

Instructions for Worksheet 2

You can use Worksheet 2 if you made charitable 

contributions during the year, and one or more 

of the limits described in this publication under 

Limits on Deductions apply to you. You can't 

use this worksheet if you have a carryover of a 

charitable contribution from an earlier year. If 

you have a carryover from an earlier year, see 

Carryovers, later.

The following list gives instructions for completing the worksheet.

• The terms used in the worksheet are explained earlier in this publication.

• If the result on any line is less than zero, 

enter zero.

• For contributions of property, enter the 

property's FMV unless you elected (or 

were required) to reduce the FMV as explained under Giving Property That Has Increased in Value. In that case, enter the reduced amount.

Publication 526 (2023) 17
Worksheet 2. Applying the Deduction Limits

Caution: Don’t use this worksheet to figure the contributions you can deduct this year if you have a carryover of a charitable contribution from an 

earlier year.

Step 1. Enter any qualified conservation contributions (QCCs) made during the year.

1. If you are a qualified farmer or rancher, enter any QCCs subject to the limit based on 100% of AGI .................................. 1

2. Enter any QCCs not entered on line 1 ..................................................................... 2

Step 2. Enter your other charitable contributions made during the year.

3. Reserved for future use ................................................................... ........................

4. Enter your contributions of capital gain property "for the use of" any qualified organization ....................................... 4

5. Enter your other contributions "for the use of" any qualified organization. Don't include any contributions you entered on a previous line ............ 5

6. Enter your contributions of capital gain property to qualified organizations that aren't 50% limit organizations. Don't include any contributions you entered on 

a previous line ................................................................................... 6

7. Enter your other contributions to qualified organizations that aren't 50% limit organizations. Don't include any contributions you entered on a previous 

line .......................................................................................... 7

8. Enter your contributions of capital gain property to 50% limit organizations deducted at FMV. Don't include any contributions you entered on a previous 

line .......................................................................................... 8

9. Enter your noncash contributions to 50% limit organizations other than capital gain property you deducted at FMV. Be sure to include contributions of capital 

gain property to 50% limit organizations if you reduced the property's FMV. Don't include any contributions you entered on a previous line ........... 9

10. Enter your cash contributions to 50% limit organizations. Don't include any contributions you entered on a previous line ..................... 10

Step 3. Figure your deduction for the year (if any result is zero or less, enter -0-)

11. Enter your AGI ................................................................................... 11

Cash contributions subject to the limit based on 60% of AGI 

(If line 10 is zero, enter -0- on lines 12 through 14.)

12. Multiply line 11 by 0.6 .................................................................... 12

13. Deductible amount. Enter the smaller of line 10 or line 12 .............................................. 13

14. Carryover. Subtract line 13 from line 10 ......................................................... 14

Noncash contributions subject to the limit based on 50% of AGI

(If line 9 is zero, enter -0- on lines 15 through 18.)

15. Multiply line 11 by 0.5 .................................................................... 15

16. Subtract line 13 from line 15 ................................................................ 16

17. Deductible amount. Enter the smaller of line 9 or line 16 ............................................... 17

18. Carryover. Subtract line 17 from line 9 .......................................................... 18

Contributions (other than capital gain property) subject to limit based on 30% of AGI

(If lines 5 and 7 are both zero, enter -0- on lines 19 through 25.)

19. Multiply line 11 by 0.5 .................................................................... 19

20. Add lines 8, 9, and 10 .................................................................... 20

21. Subtract line 20 from line 19 ................................................................ 21

22. Multiply line 11 by 0.3 .................................................................... 22

23. Add lines 5 and 7 ...................................................................... 23

24. Deductible amount. Enter the smallest of line 21, 22, or 23 ............................................. 24

25. Carryover. Subtract line 24 from line 23 ......................................................... 25

Contributions of capital gain property subject to limit based on 30% of AGI

(If line 8 is zero, enter -0- on lines 26 through 31.)

26. Multiply line 11 by 0.5 .................................................................... 26

27. Add lines 9 and 10 ...................................................................... 27

28. Subtract line 27 from line 26 ................................................................ 28

29. Multiply line 11 by 0.3 .................................................................... 29

30. Deductible amount. Enter the smallest of line 8, 28, or 29 .............................................. 30

31. Carryover. Subtract line 30 from line 8 .......................................................... 31

Contributions subject to the limit based on 20% of AGI

(If lines 4 and 6 are both zero, enter -0- on lines 32 through 41.)

32. Multiply line 11 by 0.5 .................................................................... 32

33. Add lines 13, 17, 24, and 30 ................................................................ 33

34. Subtract line 33 from line 32 ................................................................ 34

35. Multiply line 11 by 0.3 .................................................................... 35

36. Subtract line 24 from line 35 ................................................................ 36

37. Subtract line 30 from line 35 ................................................................ 37

38. Multiply line 11 by 0.2 .................................................................... 38

39. Add lines 4 and 6 ...................................................................... 39

40. Deductible amount. Enter the smallest of line 34, 36, 37, 38, or 39 ......................................... 40

41. Carryover. Subtract line 40 from line 39 ......................................................... 41

QCCs subject to limit based on 50% of AGI

(If line 2 is zero, enter -0- on lines 42 through 46.)

42. Multiply line 11 by 0.5 .................................................................... 42

43. Add lines 13, 17, 24, 30, and 40 .............................................................. 43

44. Subtract line 43 from line 42 ................................................................ 44

45. Deductible amount. Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 44 ............................................... 45

46. Carryover. Subtract line 45 from line 2 .......................................................... 46

Note: Worksheet 2 continues on the next page.

18 Publication 526 (2023)
Worksheet 2—continued

QCCs subject to limit based on 100% of AGI

(If line 1 is zero, enter -0- on lines 47 through 51.)

47. Enter the amount from line 11 ............................................................... 47

48. Add lines 13, 17, 24, 30, 40, and 45 ............................................................ 48

49. Subtract line 48 from line 47 ................................................................ 49

50. Deductible amount. Enter the smaller of line 1 or line 49 ............................................... 50

51. Carryover. Subtract line 50 from line 1 .......................................................... 51

Deduction for the year

52. Add lines 13, 17, 24, 30, 40, 45, and 50. Enter the total here and include the deductible amounts on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 11 or 

line 12, whichever is appropriate. ............................................................. 52

Note. Any amounts in the carryover column are not deductible this year but can be carried over to next year. See Carryovers, later, for more 

information about how you will use them next year.

Carryovers

You can carry over any contributions you can't 

deduct in the current year because they exceed 

the limits based on your AGI. Except for qualified conservation contributions, you may be 

able to deduct the excess in each of the next 5 

years until it is used up, but not beyond that 

time.

A carryover of a qualified conservation contribution can be carried forward for 15 years.

Generally, contributions you carry over are 

subject to the same percentage limits in the 

year to which they are carried as they were in 

the year of the contribution. For example, contributions subject to the 20% limit in the year in 

which they are made are 20% limit contributions 

in the year to which they are carried. But see 

Carryover of capital gain property, later.

For each category of contributions, you deduct carryover contributions only after deducting all allowable contributions in that category 

for the current year. If you have carryovers from 

2 or more prior years, use the carryover from 

the earlier year first.

Note. A carryover of a contribution to a 

50% limit organization must be used before 

contributions in the current year to organizations 

other than 50% limit organizations. See Example 2.

Example 1. Last year, you made cash contributions of $11,000 to 50% limit organizations. 

Because of the limit based on 60% of AGI, you 

deducted only $10,000 and carried over $1,000 

to this year. This year, your AGI is $20,000 and 

you made cash contributions of $9,500 to 50% 

limit organizations. The limit based on 60% of 

AGI applies to your current year cash contribution of $9,500 and carryover contribution of 

$1,000. You can deduct this year’s cash contribution and your carryover cash contribution in 

full because your total cash contributions of 

$10,500 ($9,500 + $1,000) is less than $12,000 

(60% of $20,000).

Example 2. This year, your AGI is $24,000. 

You make cash contributions of $6,000 to which 

the 60% limit applies and $3,000 to which the 

30% limit applies. You have a contribution 

carryover from last year of $5,000 for capital 

gain property contributed to a 50% limit organization and subject to the special 30% limit for 

contributions of capital gain property.

Your cash contribution of $6,000 is fully deductible because it is less than $14,400 (which 

is 60% of your AGI).

The deduction for your 30% limit contributions of $3,000 is limited to $1,000. This is the 

lesser of:

1. $7,200 (30% of $24,000), or

2. $1,000 ($12,000 minus $11,000).

(The $12,000 amount is 50% of $24,000, your 

AGI. The $11,000 amount is the sum of your 

current and carryover contributions to 50% limit 

organizations, $6,000 + $5,000.)

The deduction for your $5,000 carryover is 

subject to the special 30% limit for contributions 

of capital gain property. This means it is limited 

to the smaller of:

1. $7,200 (your 30% limit), or

2. $5,000 ($12,000, your 50% limit, minus 

your allowable cash contributions to which 

the 60% limit applies ($6,000) and minus 

your allowable contribution to which the 

30% limit applies ($1,000)).

Because your $5,000 carryover contribution 

does not exceed the smaller limit of $5,000, you 

can deduct it in full.

Your deduction is $12,000 ($6,000 + $1,000 

+ $5,000). You carry over the $2,000 balance of 

your 30% limit contributions for this year to next 

year.

Carryover of capital gain property. If you 

carry over contributions of capital gain property 

subject to the special 30% limit and you choose 

in the next year to use the 50% limit and take 

appreciation into account, you must refigure the 

carryover. Reduce the FMV of the property by 

the appreciation and reduce that result by the 

amount actually deducted in the previous year.

Example. Last year, your AGI was $50,000 

and you contributed capital gain property valued at $27,000 to a 50% limit organization and 

didn't choose to use the 50% limit. Your basis in 

the property was $20,000. Your deduction was 

limited to $15,000 (30% of $50,000), and you 

carried over $12,000. This year, your AGI is 

$60,000 and you contribute capital gain property valued at $25,000 to a 50% limit organization. Your basis in the property is $24,000 and 

you choose to use the 50% limit. You must refigure your carryover as if you had taken appreciation into account last year as well as this year. 

Because the amount of your contribution last 

year would have been $20,000 (the property's 

basis) instead of the $15,000 you actually deducted, your refigured carryover is $5,000 

($20,000 − $15,000). Your total deduction this 

year is $29,000 (your $24,000 current contribution plus your $5,000 carryover).

Additional rules for carryovers. Special 

rules exist for computing carryovers if you:

• Are married in some years but not others,

• Have different spouses in different years,

• Change from a separate return to a joint return in a later year,

• Change from a joint return to a separate return in a later year,

• Have a net operating loss,

• Claim the standard deduction in a carryover year, or

• Become a surviving spouse.

Because of their complexity and the limited 

number of taxpayers to whom these additional 

rules apply, they aren't discussed in this publication. If you need to figure a carryover and you 

are in one of these situations, you may want to 

consult with a tax practitioner.

Substantiation 

Requirements

You must keep records to prove the amount of 

the contributions you make during the year. The 

kind of records you must keep depends on the 

amount of your contributions and whether they 

are:

• Cash contributions,

• Noncash contributions, or

• Out-of-pocket expenses when donating 

your services.

Note. An organization must generally give 

you a written statement if it receives a payment 

from you that is more than $75 and is partly a 

contribution and partly for goods or services. 

(See Contributions From Which You Benefit under Contributions You Can Deduct, earlier.) 

Keep the statement for your records. It may 

Publication 526 (2023) 19
satisfy all or part of the recordkeeping requirements explained in the following discussions.

Cash Contributions

Cash contributions include payments made by 

cash, check, electronic funds transfer, online 

payment service, debit card, credit card, payroll 

deduction, or a transfer of a gift card redeemable for cash.

You can't deduct a cash contribution, regardless of the amount, unless you keep one of 

the following.

1. A bank record that shows the name of the 

qualified organization, the date of the contribution, and the amount of the contribution. Bank records may include:

a. A canceled check.

b. A bank or credit union statement.

c. A credit card statement.

d. An electronic fund transfer receipt.

e. A scanned image of both sides of a 

canceled check obtained from a bank 

or credit union website.

2. A receipt (or a letter or other written communication such as an email) from the 

qualified organization showing the name of 

the organization, the date of the contribution, and the amount of the contribution.

3. The payroll deduction records described 

next.

Payroll deductions. If you make a contribution 

by payroll deduction, you must keep:

1. A pay stub, Form W-2, or other document 

furnished by your employer that shows the 

date and amount of the contribution; and

2. A pledge card or other document prepared 

by or for the qualified organization that 

shows the name of the organization and 

states the organization doesn’t provide 

goods or services in return for any contribution made to it by payroll deduction.

If your employer withheld $250 or more from a 

single paycheck, see Contributions of $250 or 

More next.

Contributions of $250 or More

You can claim a deduction for a contribution of 

$250 or more only if you have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of your contribution from the qualified organization or certain 

payroll deduction records. See Contemporaneous written acknowledgment (CWA), later, for a 

description of when a written acknowledgement 

is considered “contemporaneous” with your 

contribution.

If you made more than one contribution of 

$250 or more, you must have either a separate 

acknowledgment for each or one acknowledgment that lists each contribution and the date of 

each contribution and shows your total contributions.

Amount of contribution. In figuring whether 

your contribution is $250 or more, don't combine separate contributions. For example, if you 

gave your church $25 each week, your weekly 

payments don't have to be combined. Each 

payment is a separate contribution.

If contributions are made by payroll deduction, the deduction from each paycheck is treated as a separate contribution.

If you made a payment that is partly for 

goods and services, as described earlier under 

Contributions From Which You Benefit, your 

contribution is the amount of the payment that is 

more than the value of the goods and services.

Acknowledgment. The acknowledgment must 

meet these tests.

1. It must be written.

2. It must include:

a. The amount of cash you contributed,

b. Whether the qualified organization 

gave you any goods or services as a 

result of your contribution (other than 

certain token items and membership 

benefits),

c. A description and good faith estimate 

of the value of any goods or services 

described in (b). If the only benefit you 

received was an intangible religious 

benefit (such as admission to a religious ceremony) that generally isn’t 

sold in a commercial transaction outside the donative context, the acknowledgement must say so and 

doesn’t need to describe or estimate 

the value of the benefit.

If the acknowledgment doesn't show the 

date of the contribution, you must also have a 

bank record or receipt, as described earlier, that 

does show the date of the contribution. If the 

acknowledgment shows the date of the contribution and meets the other tests just described, 

you don't need any other records.

Contemporaneous written acknowledgment 

(CWA). Organizations typically send written acknowledgements to donors no later than January 31 of the year following the donation. For 

the written acknowledgement to be considered 

contemporaneous with the contribution it must 

meet both of the following requirements.

1. Meet all the tests described under Acknowledgment, earlier; and

2. You must get it on or before the earlier of:

a. The date you file your return for the 

year you make the contribution; or

b. The due date, including extensions, 

for filing the return.

Payroll deductions. If you make a contribution 

by payroll deduction and your employer withholds $250 or more from a single paycheck, you 

must keep:

1. A pay stub, Form W-2, or other document 

furnished by your employer that shows the 

amount withheld as a contribution; and

2. A pledge card or other document prepared 

by or for the qualified organization that 

shows the name of the organization and 

states the organization doesn't provide 

goods or services in return for any contribution made to it by payroll deduction.

A single pledge card may be kept for all contributions made by payroll deduction regardless of 

amount as long as it contains all the required information.

If the pay stub, Form W-2, pledge card, or 

other document doesn't show the date of the 

contribution, you must have another document 

that does show the date of the contribution. If 

the pay stub, Form W-2, pledge card, or other 

document shows the date of the contribution, 

you don't need any other records except those 

just described in (1) and (2).

Noncash Contributions

Substantiation requirements for contributions 

not made in cash depend on whether your deduction for the contribution is:

1. Less than $250,

2. At least $250 but not more than $500,

3. Over $500 but not more than $5,000, or

4. Over $5,000.

The substantiation requirements for noncash contributions of more than $500 also apply 

to any return filed for any carryover year.

Amount of deduction. In figuring whether 

your deduction is $500 or more, combine your 

claimed deductions for all similar items of property donated to any qualified organization during the year.

If you received goods or services in return, 

as described earlier in Contributions From 

Which You Benefit, reduce your contribution by 

the value of those goods or services. If you figure your deduction by reducing the FMV of the 

donated property by its appreciation, as described earlier in Giving Property That Has Increased in Value, your contribution is the reduced amount.

Deductions of Less Than $250

Except as provided below, no deduction will be 

allowed for a noncash contribution of less than 

$250 unless you get and keep a receipt from 

the qualified organization showing:

1. The name and address of the qualified organization to which you contributed;

2. The date and location of the charitable 

contribution;

3. A description of the property in sufficient 

detail under the circumstances (taking into 

account the value of the property) for a 

person not generally familiar with the type 

of property to understand that the description is of the contributed property; and

4. For a security, the name of the issuer, the 

type of security, and whether it is publicly 

traded as of the date of the contribution. 

For example, a security is generally considered to be publicly traded if the security 

is (a) listed on a recognized stock exchange whose quotations are published 

daily, (b) regularly traded on a national or 

regional over-the-counter market, or (c) 

20 Publication 526 (2023)
quoted daily in a national newspaper of 

general circulation in the case of mutual 

fund shares. Note: Digital assets are not 

publicly traded securities for the purposes 

of Form 8283, unless the digital asset is 

publicly traded stock or indebtedness.

A letter or other written communication from the 

qualified organization acknowledging receipt of 

the contribution and containing the information 

in (1), (2), (3), and (4) will serve as a receipt.

If it is impractical to get a receipt (for example, if you leave property at a charity’s unattended drop site), you may satisfy the substantiation requirements by maintaining reliable written 

records for each item of the donated property.

Your reliable written records must include 

the following information.

1. The information in (1), (2), (3), and (4) 

above.

2. If you claim a deduction for clothing or a 

household item, a description of the condition of the clothing or item.

3. The FMV of the property at the time of the 

contribution and how you figured the FMV.

Deductions of at Least $250 but 

Not More Than $500

If you claim a deduction of at least $250 but not 

more than $500 for a noncash charitable contribution, you must get and keep a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of your contribution from the qualified organization. If you made 

more than one contribution of $250 or more, 

you must have either a separate acknowledgment for each or one acknowledgment that 

shows your total contributions. See CWA, earlier.

The acknowledgment must:

1. Be written.

2. Include:

a. A description (but not necessarily the 

value) of any property you contributed,

b. Whether the qualified organization 

gave you any goods or services as a 

result of your contribution (other than 

certain token items and membership 

benefits), and

c. A description and good faith estimate 

of the value of any goods or services 

described in (b). If the only benefit you 

received was an intangible religious 

benefit (such as admission to a religious ceremony) that generally isn't 

sold in a commercial transaction outside the donative context, the acknowledgment must say so and 

doesn't need to describe or estimate 

the value of the benefit.

3. Be received by you on or before the earlier 

of:

a. The date you file your return for the 

year you make the contribution, or

b. The due date, including extensions, 

for filing the return.

Deductions Over $500 but Not 

Over $5,000

If you claim a deduction over $500 but not over 

$5,000 for a noncash charitable contribution, 

you must complete Form 8283 and have the 

CWA, earlier. Your completed Form 8283 must 

include:

1. Your name and taxpayer identification 

number,

2. The name and address of the qualified organization,

3. The date of the charitable contribution, 

and

4. The following information about the contributed property:

a. A description of the property in sufficient detail under the circumstances 

(taking into account the value of the 

property) for a person not generally 

familiar with the type of property to understand that the description is of the 

contributed property;

b. The FMV of the property on the contribution date and the method used in 

figuring the FMV;

c. In the case of real or tangible property, 

its condition;

d. In the case of tangible personal property, whether the donee has certified it 

for a use related to the purpose or 

function constituting the donee’s basis 

for exemption under Section 501 of 

the Internal Revenue Code or, in the 

case of a governmental unit, an exclusively public purpose;

e. In the case of securities, the name of 

the issuer, the type of securities, and 

whether they were publicly traded as 

of the date of the contribution;

f. How you got the property, for example, by purchase, gift, bequest, inheritance, or exchange;

g. The approximate date you got the 

property or, if created, produced, or 

manufactured by or for you, the approximate date the property was substantially completed; and

h. The cost or other basis, and any adjustments to the basis, of property 

held less than 12 months and, if available, the cost or other basis of property held 12 months or more. This requirement, however, doesn't apply to 

publicly traded securities.

Deductions Over $5,000

If you claim a deduction of over $5,000 for a 

noncash charitable contribution, you must have 

the CWA, earlier, obtain a qualified written appraisal of the donated property from a qualified 

appraiser, and complete Form 8283. A qualified 

appraisal is not required for contributions of 

qualified vehicles for which you obtain a CWA, 

certain inventory, publicly traded securities, or 

certain intellectual property. See Deductions 

More Than $5,000 in Publication 561 for more 

information. Note: Digital assets are not publicly 

traded securities for the purposes of Form 

8283, unless the digital asset is publicly traded 

stock or indebtedness. If the value of the digital 

asset exceeds $5,000, appraisal requirements 

will apply.

In addition to, or in lieu of, the items described in Deductions Over $500 but Not Over 

$5,000 earlier, your completed Form 8283 must 

include:

1. The qualified organization’s taxpayer identification number, signature, the date 

signed by the qualified organization, and 

the date the qualified organization received the property;

2. The appraiser’s name, address, taxpayer 

identification number, appraiser declaration, signature, and the date signed by the 

appraiser; and

3. The following additional information about 

the contributed property:

a. The FMV on the valuation effective 

date; and

b. A statement explaining whether the 

charitable contribution was made by 

means of a bargain sale and, if so, the 

amount of any consideration received 

for the contribution.

Note. The appraiser declaration must include the following statement: “I understand that 

my appraisal will be used in connection with a 

return or claim for refund. I also understand that, 

if there is a substantial or gross valuation misstatement of the value of the property claimed 

on the return or claim for refund that is based on 

my appraisal, I may be subject to a penalty under section 6695A of the Internal Revenue 

Code, as well as other applicable penalties. I affirm that I have not been at any time in the 

3-year period ending on the date of the appraisal barred from presenting evidence or testimony before the Department of the Treasury or 

the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to 31 

U.S.C. 330(c).”

Qualified Conservation 

Contribution

If the contribution was a qualified conservation 

contribution, your records must also include the 

FMV of the underlying property before and after 

the contribution and the conservation purpose 

furthered by the contribution.

For more information, see Qualified Conservation Contribution, earlier, and in Pub. 561.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses

If you give services to a qualified organization 

and have unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses, considered separately, of $250 or more (for 

example, you pay $250 for an airline ticket to attend a convention of a qualified organization as 

a chosen representative), related to those services, the following two rules apply.

Publication 526 (2023) 21
1. You must have adequate records to prove 

the amount of the expenses.

2. You must get an acknowledgment from the 

qualified organization that contains:

a. A description of the services you provided,

b. A statement of whether or not the organization provided you any goods or 

services to reimburse you for the expenses you incurred,

c. A description and a good faith estimate of the value of any goods or 

services (other than intangible religious benefits) provided to reimburse 

you, and

d. A statement that the only benefit you 

received was an intangible religious 

benefit, if that was the case. The acknowledgment doesn't need to describe or estimate the value of an intangible religious benefit (defined 

earlier under Acknowledgment).

You must get the acknowledgment on or before 

the earlier of:

1. The date you file your return for the year 

you make the contribution, or

2. The due date, including extensions, for filing the return.

Car expenses. If you claim expenses directly 

related to use of your car in giving services to a 

qualified organization, you must keep reliable 

written records of your expenses. Whether your 

records are considered reliable depends on all 

the facts and circumstances. Generally, they 

may be considered reliable if you made them 

regularly and at or near the time you had the expenses.

For example, your records might show the 

name of the organization you were serving and 

the dates you used your car for a charitable purpose. If you use the standard mileage rate of 14 

cents a mile, your records must show the miles 

you drove your car for the charitable purpose. If 

you deduct your actual expenses, your records 

must show the costs of operating the car that 

are directly related to a charitable purpose.

See Car expenses under Out-of-Pocket Expenses in Giving Services, earlier, for the expenses you can deduct.

How To Report

Report your charitable contributions on Schedule A (Form 1040), lines 11 through 14.

If you made noncash contributions, you may 

also be required to fill out parts of Form 8283. 

See Noncash contributions, later.

Cash contributions and out-of-pocket expenses. Enter your cash contributions, including out-of-pocket expenses, on Schedule A 

(Form 1040), line 11.

Reporting expenses for student living 

with you. If you claim amounts paid for a student who lives with you, as described earlier under Expenses Paid for Student Living With You, 

you must submit with your return:

1. A copy of your agreement with the organization sponsoring the student placed in 

your household,

2. A summary of the various items you paid 

to maintain the student, and

3. A statement that gives:

a. The date the student became a member of your household,

b. The dates of the student’s full-time attendance at school, and

c. The name and location of the school.

Noncash contributions. For each noncash 

contribution described below, you must file with 

your return, a Form 8283 completed as specified in the instructions to Form 8283. Enter your 

noncash contributions on Schedule A (Form 

1040), line 12.

Total deduction over $500. If your total 

deduction for all noncash contributions for the 

year is over $500, you must complete Form 

8283 and attach it to your Form 1040. Use Section A of Form 8283 to report noncash contributions for which you claimed a deduction of 

$5,000 or less per item (or group of similar 

items). Also use Section A to report contributions of publicly traded securities. Note: Digital 

assets are not publicly traded securities for the 

purposes of Form 8283, unless the digital asset 

is publicly traded stock or indebtedness. If value 

of digital asset exceeds $5,000, appraisal requirements will apply. See Deduction over 

$5,000 next, for the items you must report on 

Section B.

The IRS may disallow your deduction for 

noncash charitable contributions if it is more 

than $500 and you don't submit Form 8283 with 

your return.

Deduction over $5,000. You must complete Section B of Form 8283 for each item or 

group of similar items for which you claim a deduction of over $5,000. (However, if you contributed publicly traded securities or the specified 

properties listed in the instructions for Form 

8283, complete Section A instead.) In figuring 

whether your deduction for a group of similar 

items was more than $5,000, consider all items 

in the group, even if items in the group were donated to more than one organization. However, 

you must file a separate Form 8283, Section B, 

for each organization. The organization that received the property must complete and sign 

Part V of Section B.

Vehicle donations. If you donated a car, 

boat, airplane, or other vehicle, you may have to 

attach a copy of Form 1098-C (or other statement) to your return. For details, see Cars, 

Boats, and Airplanes, earlier.

Clothing and household items not in 

good used condition. You must include with 

your return a Qualified appraisal, which is prepared by a Qualified appraiser, of any single donated item of clothing or any donated household item that isn't in good used condition or 

better and for which you deduct more than 

$500. See Clothing and Household Items, earlier.

Qualified appraisal. A qualified appraisal 

is an appraisal document that:

• Is made, signed, and dated by a qualified 

appraiser (defined later) in accordance 

with the substance and principles of the 

Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, as developed by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal 

Foundation;

• Meets the relevant requirements of Regulations section 1.170A-17(a);

• Has a valuation effective date no earlier 

than 60 days before the date of the contribution and no later than the date of the 

contribution. For an appraisal report dated 

on or after the date of the contribution, the 

valuation effective date must be the date of 

the contribution; and

• Does not involve a prohibited appraisal fee.

You must receive the qualified appraisal before the due date, including extensions, of the 

return on which a charitable contribution deduction is first claimed for the donated property. If 

the deduction is first claimed on an amended 

return, the qualified appraisal must be received 

before the date on which the amended return is 

filed. An appraisal is not a qualified appraisal if 

you fail to disclose or you misrepresent facts to 

your appraiser and a reasonable person would 

expect this failure or misrepresentation to cause 

the appraiser to misstate the value of the property you contributed.

Qualified appraiser. A qualified appraiser 

is an individual with verifiable education and experience in valuing the type of property for 

which the appraisal is performed.

1. The individual:

a. Has earned an appraisal designation 

from a generally recognized professional appraiser organization, or

b. Has met certain minimum education 

requirements and 2 or more years of 

experience. To meet the minimum education requirement, the individual 

must have successfully completed 

professional or college-level coursework obtained from:

i. A professional or college-level 

educational organization,

ii. A professional trade or appraiser 

organization that regularly offers 

educational programs in valuing 

the type of property, or

iii. An employer as part of an employee apprenticeship or education program similar to professional or college-level courses.

2. The individual regularly prepares appraisals for which they are paid.

3. The individual is not an excluded individual.

See Pub. 561 for more information.

Easement on building in historic district. 

If you claim a deduction for a qualified conservation contribution for an easement on the exterior of a building in a registered historic district, 

you must include a qualified appraisal (defined 

earlier), photographs, and certain other 

22 Publication 526 (2023)
information with your return. See Qualified Conservation Contribution, earlier.

Deduction over $500,000. If you claim a 

deduction of more than $500,000 for a contribution of property, you must attach a Qualified appraisal, which is prepared by a Qualified appraiser, of the property to your return. This 

doesn't apply to contributions of cash, qualified 

vehicles for which you obtained a CWA, certain 

inventory, publicly traded securities, or intellectual property. See Regulations section 

1.170A-16(e)(2).

In figuring whether your deduction is over 

$500,000, combine the claimed deductions for 

all similar items donated to any qualified organization during the year.

If you don't attach the appraisal, you can't 

deduct your contribution, unless your failure to 

attach it is due to reasonable cause and not to 

willful neglect.

Form 8282. An organization must file Form 

8282 if, within 3 years of receiving property for 

which it was required to sign a Form 8283, it 

sells, exchanges, consumes, or otherwise disposes of the property. The organization must 

also send you a copy of the form. However, the 

organization need not file Form 8282 to report 

the sale of an item if you signed a statement on 

Section B of Form 8283 stating that the appraised value of the item, or a specific item 

within a group of similar items, was $500 or 

less. For this purpose, all shares of nonpublicly 

traded stock or securities, or items that form a 

set (such as a collection of books written by the 

same author or a group of place settings), are 

considered to be one item.

How To Get Tax Help

If you have questions about a tax issue; need 

help preparing your tax return; or want to download free publications, forms, or instructions, go 

to IRS.gov to find resources that can help you 

right away.

Preparing and filing your tax return. After 

receiving all your wage and earnings statements (Forms W-2, W-2G, 1099-R, 1099-MISC, 

1099-NEC, etc.); unemployment compensation 

statements (by mail or in a digital format) or 

other government payment statements (Form 

1099-G); and interest, dividend, and retirement 

statements from banks and investment firms 

(Forms 1099), you have several options to 

choose from to prepare and file your tax return. 

You can prepare the tax return yourself, see if 

you qualify for free tax preparation, or hire a tax 

professional to prepare your return.

Free options for tax preparation. Go to 

IRS.gov to see your options for preparing and 

filing your return online or in your local community, if you qualify, which include the following.

• Free File. This program lets you prepare 

and file your federal individual income tax 

return for free using brand-name tax-preparation-and-filing software or Free File fillable forms. However, state tax preparation 

may not be available through Free File. Go 

to IRS.gov/FreeFile to see if you qualify for 

free online federal tax preparation, e-filing, 

and direct deposit or payment options.

• VITA. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offers free tax help to 

people with low-to-moderate incomes, persons with disabilities, and limited-English-speaking taxpayers who need help 

preparing their own tax returns. Go to 

IRS.gov/VITA, download the free IRS2Go 

app, or call 800-906-9887 for information 

on free tax return preparation.

• TCE. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly 

(TCE) program offers free tax help for all 

taxpayers, particularly those who are 60 

years of age and older. TCE volunteers 

specialize in answering questions about 

pensions and retirement-related issues 

unique to seniors. Go to IRS.gov/TCE, 

download the free IRS2Go app for information on free tax return preparation.

• MilTax. Members of the U.S. Armed 

Forces and qualified veterans may use MilTax, a free tax service offered by the Department of Defense through Military OneSource. For more information, go to 

MilitaryOneSource (MilitaryOneSource.mil/

MilTax).

Also, the IRS offers Free Fillable Forms, 

which can be completed online and then 

filed electronically regardless of income.

Using online tools to help prepare your return. Go to IRS.gov/Tools for the following.

• The Earned Income Tax Credit Assistant 

(IRS.gov/EITCAssistant) determines if 

you’re eligible for the earned income credit 

(EIC).

• The Online EIN Application (IRS.gov/EIN) 

helps you get an employer identification 

number (EIN) at no cost.

• The Tax Withholding Estimator (IRS.gov/

W4app) makes it easier for you to estimate 

the federal income tax you want your employer to withhold from your paycheck. 

This is tax withholding. See how your withholding affects your refund, take-home pay, 

or tax due.

• The First-Time Homebuyer Credit Account 

Look-up (IRS.gov/HomeBuyer) tool provides information on your repayments and 

account balance.

• The Sales Tax Deduction Calculator 

(IRS.gov/SalesTax) figures the amount you 

can claim if you itemize deductions on 

Schedule A (Form 1040).

Getting answers to your tax questions. On IRS.gov, you can get 

up-to-date information on current 

events and changes in tax law.

• IRS.gov/Help: A variety of tools to help you 

get answers to some of the most common 

tax questions.

• IRS.gov/ITA: The Interactive Tax Assistant, 

a tool that will ask you questions and, 

based on your input, provide answers on a 

number of tax law topics.

• IRS.gov/Forms: Find forms, instructions, 

and publications. You will find details on 

the most recent tax changes and interactive links to help you find answers to your 

questions.

• You may also be able to access tax law information in your electronic filing software.

Need someone to prepare your tax return? 

There are various types of tax return preparers, 

including enrolled agents, certified public accountants (CPAs), accountants, and many others who don’t have professional credentials. If 

you choose to have someone prepare your tax 

return, choose that preparer wisely. A paid tax 

preparer is:

• Primarily responsible for the overall substantive accuracy of your return,

• Required to sign the return, and

• Required to include their preparer tax identification number (PTIN).

Although the tax preparer always signs the 

return, you're ultimately responsible for providing all the information required for the preparer 

to accurately prepare your return. Anyone paid 

to prepare tax returns for others should have a 

thorough understanding of tax matters. For 

more information on how to choose a tax preparer, go to Tips for Choosing a Tax Preparer on 

IRS.gov.

Employers can register to use Business 

Services Online. The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers online service at SSA.gov/

employer for fast, free, and secure online W-2 

filing options to CPAs, accountants, enrolled 

agents, and individuals who process Form W-2, 

Wage and Tax Statement, and Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement.

IRS social media. Go to IRS.gov/SocialMedia 

to see the various social media tools the IRS 

uses to share the latest information on tax 

changes, scam alerts, initiatives, products, and 

services. At the IRS, privacy and security are 

our highest priority. We use these tools to share 

public information with you. Don’t post your social security number (SSN) or other confidential 

information on social media sites. Always protect your identity when using any social networking site.

The following IRS YouTube channels provide 

short, informative videos on various tax-related 

topics in English, Spanish, and ASL.

• Youtube.com/irsvideos.

• Youtube.com/irsvideosmultilingua.

• Youtube.com/irsvideosASL.

Watching IRS videos. The IRS Video portal 

(IRSVideos.gov) contains video and audio presentations for individuals, small businesses, 

and tax professionals.

Online tax information in other languages. 

You can find information on IRS.gov/

MyLanguage if English isn’t your native language.

Free Over-the-Phone Interpreter (OPI) Service. The IRS is committed to serving our multilingual customers by offering OPI services. The 

OPI Service is a federally funded program and 

is available at Taxpayer Assistance Centers 

(TACs), other IRS offices, and every VITA/TCE 

return site. The OPI Service is accessible in 

more than 350 languages.

Publication 526 (2023) 23
Accessibility Helpline available for taxpayers with disabilities. Taxpayers who need information about accessibility services can call 

833-690-0598. The Accessibility Helpline can 

answer questions related to current and future 

accessibility products and services available in 

alternative media formats (for example, braille, 

large print, audio, etc.). The Accessibility Helpline does not have access to your IRS account. 

For help with tax law, refunds, or account-related issues, go to IRS.gov/LetUsHelp.

Note. Form 9000, Alternative Media Preference, or Form 9000(SP) allows you to elect to 

receive certain types of written correspondence 

in the following formats.

• Standard Print.

• Large Print.

• Braille.

• Audio (MP3).

• Plain Text File (TXT).

• Braille Ready File (BRF).

Disasters. Go to Disaster Assistance and 

Emergency Relief for Individuals and 

Businesses to review the available disaster tax 

relief.

Getting tax forms and publications. Go to 

IRS.gov/Forms to view, download, or print all 

the forms, instructions, and publications you 

may need. Or, you can go to IRS.gov/

OrderForms to place an order.

Getting tax publications and instructions in 

eBook format. You can also download and 

view popular tax publications and instructions 

(including the Instructions for Form 1040) on 

mobile devices as eBooks at IRS.gov/eBooks.

Note. IRS eBooks have been tested using 

Apple's iBooks for iPad. Our eBooks haven’t 

been tested on other dedicated eBook readers, 

and eBook functionality may not operate as intended.

Access your online account (individual taxpayers only). Go to IRS.gov/Account to securely access information about your federal tax 

account.

• View the amount you owe and a breakdown by tax year.

• See payment plan details or apply for a 

new payment plan.

• Make a payment or view 5 years of payment history and any pending or scheduled payments.

• Access your tax records, including key 

data from your most recent tax return, and 

transcripts.

• View digital copies of select notices from 

the IRS.

• Approve or reject authorization requests 

from tax professionals.

• View your address on file or manage your 

communication preferences.

Tax Pro Account. This tool lets your tax professional submit an authorization request to access your individual taxpayer IRS online 

account. For more information, go to IRS.gov/

TaxProAccount.

Using direct deposit. The fastest way to receive a tax refund is to file electronically and 

choose direct deposit, which securely and electronically transfers your refund directly into your 

financial account. Direct deposit also avoids the 

possibility that your check could be lost, stolen, 

destroyed, or returned undeliverable to the IRS. 

Eight in 10 taxpayers use direct deposit to receive their refunds. If you don’t have a bank account, go to IRS.gov/DirectDeposit for more information on where to find a bank or credit 

union that can open an account online.

Reporting and resolving your tax-related 

identity theft issues. 

• Tax-related identity theft happens when 

someone steals your personal information 

to commit tax fraud. Your taxes can be affected if your SSN is used to file a fraudulent return or to claim a refund or credit.

• The IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages (including 

shortened links), telephone calls, or social 

media channels to request or verify personal or financial information. This includes 

requests for personal identification numbers (PINs), passwords, or similar information for credit cards, banks, or other financial accounts.

• Go to IRS.gov/IdentityTheft, the IRS Identity Theft Central webpage, for information 

on identity theft and data security protection for taxpayers, tax professionals, and 

businesses. If your SSN has been lost or 

stolen or you suspect you’re a victim of 

tax-related identity theft, you can learn 

what steps you should take.

• Get an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN). IP 

PINs are six-digit numbers assigned to taxpayers to help prevent the misuse of their 

SSNs on fraudulent federal income tax returns. When you have an IP PIN, it prevents someone else from filing a tax return 

with your SSN. To learn more, go to 

IRS.gov/IPPIN.

Ways to check on the status of your refund. 

• Go to IRS.gov/Refunds.

• Download the official IRS2Go app to your 

mobile device to check your refund status.

• Call the automated refund hotline at 

800-829-1954.

The IRS can’t issue refunds before 

mid-February for returns that claimed 

the EIC or the additional child tax credit 

(ACTC). This applies to the entire refund, not 

just the portion associated with these credits.

Making a tax payment. Payments of U.S. tax 

must be remitted to the IRS in U.S. dollars. 

Digital Assets are not accepted. Go to IRS.gov/

Payments for information on how to make a payment using any of the following options.

• IRS Direct Pay: Pay your individual tax bill 

or estimated tax payment directly from your 

checking or savings account at no cost to 

you.

• Debit, Credit Card, or Digital Wallet: 

Choose an approved payment processor 

to pay online or by phone.

• Electronic Funds Withdrawal: Schedule a 

payment when filing your federal taxes usCAUTION

!

ing tax return preparation software or 

through a tax professional.

• Electronic Federal Tax Payment System: 

Best option for businesses. Enrollment is 

required.

• Check or Money Order: Mail your payment 

to the address listed on the notice or instructions.

• Cash: You may be able to pay your taxes 

with cash at a participating retail store.

• Same-Day Wire: You may be able to do 

same-day wire from your financial institution. Contact your financial institution for 

availability, cost, and time frames.

Note. The IRS uses the latest encryption 

technology to ensure that the electronic payments you make online, by phone, or from a 

mobile device using the IRS2Go app are safe 

and secure. Paying electronically is quick, easy, 

and faster than mailing in a check or money order.

What if I can’t pay now? Go to IRS.gov/

Payments for more information about your options.

• Apply for an online payment agreement 

(IRS.gov/OPA) to meet your tax obligation 

in monthly installments if you can’t pay 

your taxes in full today. Once you complete 

the online process, you will receive immediate notification of whether your agreement has been approved.

• Use the Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier 

to see if you can settle your tax debt for 

less than the full amount you owe. For 

more information on the Offer in Compromise program, go to IRS.gov/OIC.

Filing an amended return. Go to IRS.gov/

Form1040X for information and updates.

Checking the status of your amended return. Go to IRS.gov/WMAR to track the status 

of Form 1040-X amended returns.

It can take up to 3 weeks from the date 

you filed your amended return for it to 

show up in our system, and processing 

it can take up to 16 weeks.

Understanding an IRS notice or letter 

you’ve received. Go to IRS.gov/Notices to find 

additional information about responding to an 

IRS notice or letter.

Responding to an IRS notice or letter. You 

can now upload responses to all notices and 

letters using the Document Upload Tool. For notices that require additional action, taxpayers 

will be redirected appropriately on IRS.gov to 

take further action. To learn more about the tool, 

go to IRS.gov/Upload

Note. You can schedule LEP (Form 1040). 

Request for Change in Language Preference, to 

state a preference to receive notices, letters, or 

other written communications from the IRS in an 

alternative language. You may not immediately 

receive written communications in the requested language. The IRS’s commitment to LEP 

taxpayers is a part of a multi-year timeline that 

began providing translations in 2023. You will 

continue to receive communications, including 

CAUTION

!

24 Publication 526 (2023)
notices and letters, in English until they are 

translated to your preferred language.

Contacting your local TAC. Keep in mind, 

many questions can be answered on IRS.gov 

without visiting a TAC. Go to IRS.gov/LetUsHelp 

for the topics people ask about most. If you still 

need help, TACs provide tax help when a tax issue can’t be handled online or by phone. All 

TACs now provide service by appointment, so 

you’ll know in advance that you can get the 

service you need without long wait times. Before you visit, go to IRS.gov/TACLocator to find 

the nearest TAC and to check hours, available 

services, and appointment options. Or, on the 

IRS2Go app, under the Stay Connected tab, 

choose the Contact Us option and click on “Local Offices.”

The Taxpayer Advocate 

Service (TAS) Is Here To 

Help You

What Is TAS?

TAS is an independent organization within the 

IRS that helps taxpayers and protects taxpayer 

rights. TAS strives to ensure that every taxpayer 

is treated fairly and that you know and understand your rights under the Taxpayer Bill of 

Rights.

How Can You Learn About Your 

Taxpayer Rights?

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights describes 10 basic 

rights that all taxpayers have when dealing with 

the IRS. Go to TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov to 

help you understand what these rights mean to 

you and how they apply. These are your rights. 

Know them. Use them.

What Can TAS Do for You?

TAS can help you resolve problems that you 

can’t resolve with the IRS. And their service is 

free. If you qualify for their assistance, you will 

be assigned to one advocate who will work with 

you throughout the process and will do everything possible to resolve your issue. TAS can 

help you if:

• Your problem is causing financial difficulty 

for you, your family, or your business;

• You face (or your business is facing) an immediate threat of adverse action; or

• You’ve tried repeatedly to contact the IRS 

but no one has responded, or the IRS 

hasn’t responded by the date promised.

How Can You Reach TAS?

TAS has offices in every states, the District of 

Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To find your advocate’s number:

• Go to TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov/ContactUs;

• Download Pub. 1546, The Taxpayer Advocate Service Is Your Voice at the IRS, available at IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1546.pdf

• Call the IRS toll free at 800–TAX-FORM 

(800–829–3676) to order a copy of Pub. 

1546;

• Check your local directory; or

• Call TAS toll free at 877–777–4778.

How Else Does TAS Help 

Taxpayers?

TAS works to resolve large-scale problems that 

affect many taxpayers. If you know of one of 

these broad issues, report it to TAS at IRS.gov/

SAMS. Be sure to not include any personal taxpayer information.

Low Income Taxpayer Clinics 

(LITCs)

LITCs are independent from the IRS and TAS. 

LITCs represent individuals whose income is 

below a certain level and need to resolve tax 

problems with the IRS. LITCs can represent taxpayers in audits, and tax collection disputes before the IRS and in court. In addition, LITCs can 

provide information about taxpayer rights and 

responsibilities in different languages for individuals who speak English as a second language. Services are offered for free or a small 

fee. For more information or to find an LITC near 

you, go to the LITC page at 

TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov/LITC or see IRS 

Pub. 4134, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic List, at 

IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4134.pdf.

Publication 526 (2023) 25
To help us develop a more useful index, please let us know if you have ideas for index entries.

See “Comments and Suggestions” in the “Introduction” for the ways you can reach us. Index

A

Acknowledgment 20

Contemporaneous 20

Adoption expenses 7

Airplanes, donations of 8

Appraisal fees 7

Assistance (See Tax help)

B

Bargain sales 13

Blood donated 7

Boats, donations of 8

Boats, FMV 11

C

Canadian charity 3

Capital gain property 12

Car expenses 5, 22

Carryovers 19

Cars, donations of 8

Cash contributions, 

substantiation 

requirements 20

Certified historic structure 10

Charity benefit events 3

Church deacon 5

Clothing:

FMV of 11

Contributions from which you 

benefit 3, 7

Contributions of property 7

Contributions subject to special 

rules:

Car, boat, or airplane:

1098–C 7

Clothing 7

Fractional Interest in tangible 

personal property 8

Future interest in tangible 

personal property 8

Household items 7

Inventory from your business 8

Partial interest in property 7

Patent or other intellectual 

property 8

Property subject to a debt 7, 8

Qualified conservation 

contribution 8

Taxidermy property 7

Contributions to nonqualified 

organizations:

Foreign organizations 6

Contributions you can deduct 3

Conventions of a qualified 

organization 5

D

Daily allowance (per diem) from 

a charitable organization 6

Deduction limits 14

Determining FMV 11

Donor-advised funds 7

E

Easement 10, 22

F

Food inventory 13

Foreign organizations:

Canadian 3

Israeli 3

Mexican 3

Form:

8282 23

8283 22

Foster parents 5

Future interests in tangible 

personal property 10

H

Household items:

FMV of 11

How to report 22

Noncash contributions 22

I

Israeli charity 3

L

Legislation, influencing 7

Limits on deductions 14, 16

M

Meals 7

Membership fees or dues 4

Mexican charity 3

Motor vehicles, donations of 8

Motor vehicles, FMV 11

N

Noncash contributions 20

How to report 22

Substantiation requirements 20

Nondeductible contributions 6

O

Ordinary income property 12

Out-of-pocket expenses 14

Out-of-pocket expenses in giving 

services 5

P

Payroll deductions 20

Penalty, valuation 

overstatement 14

Personal expenses 7

Private foundation 15

Private nonoperating 

foundation 12, 15

Private operating foundation 15

Property:

Bargain sales 13

Basis 12

Capital gain 12

Capital gain election 16

Decreased in value 12

Future interests in tangible 

personal property 10

Increased in value 12

Inventory 11

Ordinary income 12

Unrelated use 12

Publications (See Tax help)

Q

Qualified appraisal 22

Qualified appraiser 22

Qualified charitable 

distributions 7

Qualified organizations:

Foreign qualified organizations 2

Types 2

R

Raffle or bingo 7

Recapture:

No exempt use 13

Recapture of deduction of 

fractional interest in tangible 

personal property:

Additional tax 9

Reporting 22

Retirement home 7

S

Services, value of 7

Split-dollar insurance 

arrangements 7

Student 5

Exchange program 5

Student living with you 4, 22

Substantiation requirements 19

T

Tangible personal property:

Future interest in 10

Tax help 23

Time, value of 7

Token items 4

Travel expenses 6

Travel expenses for charitable 

services 6

Tuition 7

U

Underprivileged youths 5

Uniforms 5

Unrelated use 12

V

Volunteers 5

W

Whaling captain 6

When to deduct charitable 

contributions 14

26 Publication 526 (2023)