US Charitable Deduction Calculator

If you itemise, you can deduct contributions only to the extent they exceed 0.5% of your adjusted gross income, and then only up to 60% of AGI for cash gifts to public charities or 30% of AGI for gifts of long-term appreciated property valued at market. On $500,000 of AGI, the first $2,500 of giving produces no deduction at all, and the ceiling on cash gifts is $300,000. Anything above the ceilings carries forward for up to five years.

A threshold introduced by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and effective from tax year 2026. Charitable contributions are deductible only to the extent the total exceeds 0.5% of your contribution base, broadly your adjusted gross income. Donate $10,000 on $250,000 of AGI and only $8,750 is deductible. The floor is charged every year you give, which is why concentrating several years of giving into one year is now considerably more valuable than spreading it evenly.

It is a cap on value rather than on amount. For taxpayers in the 37% bracket, itemised deductions are reduced by 2/37ths of the lesser of total itemised deductions or taxable income above the point at which the 37% bracket begins — $640,600 for single filers and $768,700 for married couples filing jointly in 2026. The effect is that each dollar of deduction is worth 35 cents rather than 37. It applies to all itemised deductions together, so charitable gifts compete with state taxes and mortgage interest for the same reduced value.

Stock, if it has appreciated and you have held it more than a year. Donating the shares directly to a public charity gives a deduction for full market value and permanently avoids capital gains tax on the appreciation — worth about 23.8% of the gain once the 20% long-term rate and the 3.8% net investment income tax are counted. The trade-off is a lower ceiling, 30% of AGI rather than 60%, with the excess carrying forward five years. Shares held twelve months or less are deductible only at cost basis, which makes them the least efficient thing to give.

Up to $1,000, or $2,000 for a married couple filing jointly, from tax year 2026. This above-the-line deduction is new and applies only to cash gifts to qualifying public charities — contributions to donor-advised funds and most private foundations do not qualify. It is available only to non-itemisers, so anyone whose itemised deductions exceed the standard deduction of $16,100 single or $32,200 married filing jointly cannot use it.

It works better than it did. Bunching means concentrating several years of intended giving into a single tax year so you clear both the standard deduction and, now, the 0.5% floor once rather than annually. A donor giving $25,000 a year on $1,000,000 of AGI loses $5,000 of deduction every year; giving $125,000 once every five years loses $5,000 once. Funding a donor-advised fund in the bunched year lets the charities keep receiving steady annual grants while you take the deduction up front.

60% of AGI for cash contributions to public charities, 30% for gifts of long-term appreciated capital gain property to public charities deducted at fair market value, and 20% for gifts of appreciated property to most private foundations. Cash to a private foundation is limited to 30%. These ceilings sit on top of the new 0.5% floor, not instead of it, and amounts above the ceilings carry forward for up to five years subject to the same limits in each later year.

Five years. Contributions that exceed the AGI ceilings are carried forward and deducted in later years, keeping their original character — cash carryforwards remain subject to the 60% limit and appreciated property carryforwards to the 30% limit. The awkward interaction introduced in 2026 is that the 0.5% floor applies afresh in each year against that year's contribution base, so a large carryforward being used down over several years meets a new floor in each of them.

Yes, and the deduction is taken in the year you fund the account, not when the sponsor makes grants. A donor-advised fund is treated as a public charity, so cash contributions fall under the 60% AGI ceiling and appreciated securities under the 30% ceiling at full market value. That combination is what makes a DAF the standard vehicle for bunching. The exclusions to know are that a DAF cannot receive a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA, and DAF contributions do not count towards the new above-the-line deduction for non-itemisers.

No, and that is exactly why they are now the most efficient way for older donors to give. A QCD transfers funds directly from an IRA to a qualifying public charity for anyone aged 70½ or over. Because the amount is excluded from gross income rather than deducted, it bypasses the 0.5% floor, bypasses the 2/37 cap, requires no itemising, and does not raise AGI — so it also avoids knock-on effects on Medicare premiums and other income-tested thresholds. QCDs cannot be made to donor-advised funds or most private foundations.

Any single contribution of $250 or more needs a contemporaneous written acknowledgement from the charity, obtained before the earlier of the date you file or the return's due date including extensions, and it must state whether any goods or services were provided in return. Non-cash gifts over $500 require Form 8283. Non-cash gifts over $5,000 generally require a qualified appraisal, although publicly traded securities are exempt from that requirement. Courts have disallowed very large deductions over a single missing sentence in an acknowledgement letter.

It was worth doing, but the gap is smaller than much of the commentary suggested. Giving in 2025 escaped the 0.5% floor entirely and secured the full 37% benefit rather than 35%, so a $100,000 gift was worth about $2,000 more, plus the value of the floor avoided. If you did not accelerate, there is no retrospective fix and no cause for real regret — the far larger lever is giving appreciated securities rather than cash, which is worth several times more and is available in any year.

Yes. The 0.5% floor and the 2/37 cap apply to all charitable contributions by itemisers regardless of recipient, and they sit on top of the foundation's own lower AGI ceilings — 30% for cash and 20% for appreciated property. Gifts of most non-publicly-traded assets to a private foundation remain deductible only at cost basis rather than market value. Foundations also pay an excise tax on net investment income and must distribute roughly 5% of assets a year, so the case for one rests on control and family governance rather than deduction efficiency.

Generally not on your US return. The US charitable deduction is restricted to organisations created or organised in the United States, so a gift to a British charity typically produces UK Gift Aid relief and no US deduction, while a gift to a US 501(c)(3) produces a US deduction and no UK relief. Article 21 of the US–UK income tax treaty gives limited relief against UK-source income but does not solve the general case. The practical answers are dual-qualified charities recognised in both countries, or a transatlantic donor-advised fund — and both have to be arranged before the money is given.

No. It models federal income tax only, using your selected marginal rate, plus the capital gains tax and net investment income tax avoided when appreciated shares are donated in kind rather than sold. State charitable treatment varies widely — some states follow the federal rules including the new floor, others allow a separate credit or deduction, and a few give no relief at all. Where state relief is available the real benefit of your giving will be higher than the figure shown here.