Want your exact deduction number - the AGI percentage ceilings, the new 0.5 percent floor, your carryover, and the non-itemizer deduction? Enter your AGI and gifts in the calculator.
Open the Charitable Contribution Deduction Calculator →Under IRC §170, charitable gifts are deductible up to a percentage of your AGI that depends on what you give and to whom: 60 percent for cash to public charities, 50 percent for other gifts to public charities, 30 percent for appreciated property (and gifts to private foundations), and 20 percent for appreciated property to private foundations. Excess carries forward 5 years. Starting in 2026, itemizers lose the first 0.5 percent of AGI of giving, and non-itemizers gain a new $1,000 / $2,000 above-the-line deduction for cash gifts. Itemized gifts go on Schedule A line 11.
- 60 percent cash limit is permanent under §170(b)(1)(G); the OBBBA removed the post-2025 sunset.
- Appreciated property is capped at 30 percent of AGI and deducted at fair market value with no gain recognized (§170(b)(1)(C)).
- Private foundations use 30 percent / 20 percent limits (§170(b)(1)(B) and (D)).
- New 0.5 percent floor for 2026 itemizers (§170(b)(1)(I)): only giving above 0.5 percent of AGI is deductible.
- New non-itemizer deduction for 2026 (§170(p)): $1,000 most filers, $2,000 MFJ, cash to public charities only.
- 5-year carryover for amounts over the AGI limit (§170(d)); 15 years for conservation easements.
- $250 acknowledgment rule under §170(f)(8); Form 8283 over $500; qualified appraisal over $5,000.
- QCDs are not deductions - they are an income exclusion that bypasses the limits and the new floor.
- Donor-advised funds qualify for itemized limits but not for the 2026 non-itemizer deduction.
- Schedule A line 11 for cash, line 12 for non-cash (Form 8283), line 13 for carryover, line 14 total.
What the Charitable Contribution Deduction Is
Internal Revenue Code Section 170 allows a deduction for contributions of cash or property made during the taxable year to a qualified organization. For individuals it is almost always an itemized deduction, claimed on Schedule A (Form 1040), and it reduces taxable income only to the extent your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction. The amount you can deduct in any one year is capped at a percentage of your adjusted gross income, called your contribution base under §170(b)(1)(H).
A qualified organization is generally a 501(c)(3) public charity, a church, an educational or medical institution, a governmental unit, or a qualifying private foundation. Gifts to individuals, political organizations, foreign organizations (with treaty exceptions), and most homeowners' associations are never deductible. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool confirms an organization's status and its deductibility code.
Two New Rules for 2026
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) added two rules that take effect for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. First, a 0.5 percent of AGI floor reduces the itemized deduction (see the floor section). Second, a restored above-the-line deduction lets non-itemizers deduct a limited amount of cash giving for the first time since 2021 (see the non-itemizer section). For 2025, neither rule applies: charitable gifts help only if you itemize, with no floor.
The AGI Percentage Limits
The heart of §170 for itemizers is the set of AGI percentage ceilings. Each ceiling depends on two things: the kind of property you give and the kind of organization you give it to. The limits are identical for 2025 and 2026.
| Gift type | Recipient | AGI limit | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | Public charity | 60% | §170(b)(1)(G) |
| Ordinary / basis property | Public charity | 50% | §170(b)(1)(A) |
| Long-term capital gain property (FMV) | Public charity | 30% | §170(b)(1)(C) |
| Cash / ordinary property | Private foundation | 30% | §170(b)(1)(B) |
| Capital gain property | Private foundation | 20% | §170(b)(1)(D) |
| Qualified conservation contribution | Public charity | 50% (100% farmers) | §170(b)(1)(E) |
The categories interact. The total you deduct for gifts to public charities (the 50 percent-limit organizations) cannot exceed 60 percent of AGI when cash is involved, and non-cash gifts to those charities cannot exceed 50 percent of AGI by themselves. The 30 percent capital gain bucket fits underneath the 50 percent ceiling, and the private-foundation buckets are limited to the lesser of their own percentage or the room left under the 50 percent and 30 percent ceilings. IRS Publication 526 has a worksheet that walks this ordering; the calculator applies it automatically.
Contribution Base
Your contribution base is AGI computed without any net operating loss carryback (§170(b)(1)(H)). For nearly all individuals it equals AGI as shown on Form 1040 line 11. Every percentage ceiling and the new 0.5 percent floor are measured against this number.
Cash vs Appreciated Property
The single most important planning decision in charitable giving is whether to give cash or appreciated property. The two are taxed very differently.
Cash
Cash gifts to public charities are the simplest: deductible dollar for dollar up to 60 percent of AGI. Cash includes checks, credit and debit card payments, and electronic transfers. Cash gifts to private foundations are limited to 30 percent of AGI.
Long-Term Appreciated Property
If you give long-term capital gain property (held more than one year) to a public charity, you generally deduct its full fair market value and you never pay tax on the built-in appreciation. This is the core efficiency of giving appreciated stock: a $50,000 position you bought for $10,000 yields a $50,000 deduction (subject to the 30 percent limit) and avoids the capital gains tax you would owe if you sold it. The trade-off is the lower 30 percent ceiling versus 60 percent for cash, so large gifts relative to AGI may create a carryover.
Ordinary-Income and Short-Term Property
Property that would produce ordinary income or short-term capital gain if sold - inventory, art created by the donor, property held one year or less - is deductible only at the lower of basis or fair market value under §170(e)(1)(A), and it falls under the 50 percent limit. Tangible personal property put to a use unrelated to the charity's mission is also reduced to basis. These reduction rules can sharply cut the deduction, so the type and holding period of the property matter as much as its value.
Property to Private Foundations
Capital gain property given to a private non-operating foundation is generally deductible only at basis (not FMV) and is limited to 20 percent of AGI. Publicly traded stock given to a private foundation is a narrow exception that is deductible at FMV. This is one reason large appreciated-property gifts usually go to public charities or donor-advised funds rather than private foundations.
The New 0.5 Percent of AGI Floor (2026)
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act added IRC §170(b)(1)(I), a 0.5 percent of AGI floor on the itemized charitable deduction, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. It is the most consequential change to the deduction for everyday itemizers.
Beginning in 2026, your charitable contributions are deductible only to the extent they exceed 0.5 percent of your contribution base (AGI). The first slice of giving - half a percent of AGI - simply does not count. A taxpayer with $200,000 of AGI loses the first $1,000 of giving; at $400,000 of AGI the haircut is $2,000 every year. The floor does not carry over: the disallowed slice is gone for good, year after year.
The Statutory Ordering
§170(b)(1)(I) does not just lop off the first 0.5 percent of whatever you gave. It specifies an ordering: the floor is applied first to the least tax-advantaged categories (20 percent capital gain property, then 30 percent capital gain, then 30 percent non-public-charity gifts, then conservation, then 50 percent property, and finally cash to public charities). In practice this means the floor reduces your deduction by a flat 0.5 percent of AGI but preserves the cash deduction, which is the most valuable category for most donors.
The Floor Only Hits Itemizers
The 0.5 percent floor applies to the itemized deduction under §170(b). It does not apply to the new non-itemizer above-the-line deduction under §170(p). A taxpayer who takes the standard deduction and uses the $1,000 / $2,000 above-the-line deduction faces no floor on that amount.
Planning Around the Floor
Because the floor is a fixed annual haircut that does not carry over, bunching - concentrating two or three years of giving into a single year - clears the floor once instead of wasting it every year. A donor-advised fund is the usual vehicle: fund it in a bunching year for the full deduction (above one year's floor), then grant to operating charities over time.
The Non-Itemizer Deduction (2026)
For the first time since the 2021 pandemic-era deduction expired, non-itemizers can deduct charitable giving in 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in §70424, added a permanent above-the-line deduction at IRC §170(p).
The deduction is up to $1,000 for single, head of household, married filing separately, and qualifying surviving spouse filers, or $2,000 for married filing jointly. It is taken directly on Form 1040 - above the line - so you do not need to itemize or file Schedule A to claim it. Unlike the percentage-limited itemized deduction, it has no 0.5 percent floor.
Cash to Public Charities Only
The §170(p) deduction is narrow in scope. It covers cash gifts only - not property. It must go to a public charity (a 50 percent-limit organization), not a donor-advised fund and not a private non-operating foundation. There is no carryforward: cash above the $1,000 / $2,000 cap simply provides no benefit unless you itemize.
Who Benefits
This deduction matters most for the roughly 90 percent of taxpayers who take the standard deduction. A married couple who gives $2,000 in cash to their church now gets a deduction worth a few hundred dollars in tax that was previously zero. For a non-itemizing household, $2,000 of giving above the line is real money. The catch is keeping the gifts in cash and to a public charity; routing them through a donor-advised fund forfeits the deduction.
The 5-Year Carryover
Contributions that exceed the AGI percentage limit in the current year are not lost. Under IRC §170(d)(1), the excess carries forward and is deductible in each of the next 5 tax years, in order of time, subject to the same percentage limits each year.
Each category keeps its character on carryover. A 30 percent capital gain gift that exceeds the 30 percent ceiling this year carries forward as a 30 percent gift, not as a 60 percent cash gift. This matters because the carryover competes with current-year giving for the same AGI ceiling: in a later year, current-year gifts in a category are generally deducted before carryovers in that category.
Conservation Easements
Qualified conservation contributions are the exception to the 5-year rule. They carry forward 15 years under §170(b)(1)(E), and a qualified farmer or rancher can deduct up to 100 percent of the contribution base. These are specialized gifts with heightened substantiation and a history of IRS scrutiny.
No Carryover for the Non-Itemizer Deduction
The §170(p) above-the-line deduction does not carry forward. If your cash giving exceeds the $1,000 / $2,000 cap and you take the standard deduction, the excess is simply not deductible. Only itemized contributions over the percentage ceilings create a carryover.
Substantiation and Records
The percentage math is only half the deduction; substantiation is the other half, and it is where deductions are lost on audit. The rules escalate with the size of the gift.
- Any cash gift requires a bank record (canceled check, bank or card statement) or a written communication from the charity showing its name, the date, and the amount. No deduction is allowed for an unsubstantiated cash gift, regardless of size.
- $250 or more requires a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity under §170(f)(8). It must state the amount, whether any goods or services were provided in return, and the value of those goods or services. "Contemporaneous" means you have it in hand by the time you file (or the due date, if earlier). A canceled check alone is not enough at this level.
- Non-cash over $500 requires Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, attached to your return, describing the property and how you valued it.
- Non-cash over $5,000 generally requires a qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser, with the appraiser signing Section B of Form 8283. Publicly traded securities are exempt from the appraisal requirement.
Quid Pro Quo Gifts
If you receive something in return for your gift - a gala dinner, event tickets, a tote bag, membership benefits - only the amount you paid above the fair market value of what you received is deductible. The charity must give you a written disclosure for any quid pro quo payment over $75. Deduct the net amount, not the gross payment.
Donor-Advised Funds and QCDs
Two giving vehicles change the timing and tax character of charitable gifts: donor-advised funds and qualified charitable distributions. Neither is exotic, and both interact with the §170 rules in ways worth understanding.
Donor-Advised Funds
A donor-advised fund (DAF) is an account at a sponsoring public charity. You contribute cash or property, take the deduction in the year you contribute (subject to the normal 60 percent cash and 30 percent appreciated-property limits), and then recommend grants to operating charities over time. The DAF is the classic bunching vehicle: fund several years of giving in one high-income year to clear the standard deduction and the new 0.5 percent floor, then spread the grants out. A DAF contribution does not, however, qualify for the §170(p) non-itemizer deduction.
Qualified Charitable Distributions
A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a direct transfer from a traditional IRA to a qualified charity by an IRA owner age 70 and a half or older, up to an annual limit ($108,000 for 2025, indexed for inflation). A QCD is not a deduction - it is excluded from gross income entirely, which is often better than a deduction. Because it never enters AGI, a QCD is not subject to the §170 percentage limits or the new 0.5 percent floor, and it can satisfy a required minimum distribution.
For a taxpayer who takes the standard deduction, a QCD is usually the most tax-efficient way to give: the income exclusion delivers a benefit that a non-deductible charitable gift could not. A QCD also keeps AGI lower, which can reduce Medicare IRMAA surcharges and the taxable portion of Social Security. The catch is the age requirement and the direct-transfer mechanics - the check must go from the IRA custodian to the charity, not through you.
What OBBBA Changed (and What It Did Not)
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) made several lasting changes to the charitable deduction, all effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.
- 60 percent cash limit made permanent. The higher 60 percent of AGI ceiling for cash gifts, enacted by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and set to expire after 2025, is now permanent under §170(b)(1)(G).
- New 0.5 percent of AGI floor for itemizers. §170(b)(1)(I) disallows the first 0.5 percent of AGI of itemized giving, with a defined ordering that preserves the cash deduction.
- New above-the-line deduction for non-itemizers. §170(p), added by OBBBA §70424, restores a permanent $1,000 / $2,000 deduction for cash gifts to public charities by taxpayers who take the standard deduction.
- 1 percent floor for corporations. §170(b)(2) now disallows corporate charitable deductions below 1 percent of taxable income, while keeping the 10 percent ceiling.
- 35 percent benefit cap for top earners. A separate OBBBA provision limits the value of itemized deductions, including charitable, to 35 cents per dollar for taxpayers in the 37 percent bracket.
What OBBBA did not change: the 50 percent, 30 percent, and 20 percent percentage limits for property and private-foundation gifts; the 5-year carryover (15 years for conservation easements); the substantiation rules under §170(f)(8); the treatment of appreciated property at fair market value; and the QCD income-exclusion rules. These all carry over unchanged into 2026. The headline shift is the pair of new rules - the floor for itemizers and the deduction for non-itemizers - that pull the deduction in opposite directions for the two groups of taxpayers.
Want to see how the new 0.5 percent floor changes your 2026 deduction, or whether the non-itemizer deduction beats itemizing for your gifts? Run both paths in the calculator.
Open the Charitable Contribution Deduction Calculator →Practitioner Insight (LMN Tax Inc.)
The 2026 split is the conversation we are having with every giving client. Itemizers now face the 0.5 percent floor - a quiet recurring haircut that does not carry over - while non-itemizers finally get the restored above-the-line deduction. For a client who steadily gives close to half a percent of AGI, the floor wastes most of the deduction every year, and the fix is bunching: concentrate two or three years of gifts into one, ideally through a donor-advised fund, so the floor is cleared once instead of annually.
Appreciated stock remains the highest-leverage move in the whole deduction. A client who wants to give $30,000 and would otherwise sell stock to fund it should give the shares directly: full fair-market-value deduction within the 30 percent ceiling, no capital gains tax on the appreciation, and the option to repurchase the position with cash to reset basis. We model the 30 percent ceiling and the carryover before committing, because a very large appreciated gift relative to AGI can push deductions into future years where the client's marginal rate may differ.
For clients over 70 and a half, the qualified charitable distribution beats a deductible cash gift almost every time. It is an income exclusion, not a deduction, so it dodges the percentage limits and the new floor entirely, satisfies the required minimum distribution, and keeps AGI down - which protects against IRMAA Medicare surcharges and a higher taxable share of Social Security. We steer charitably inclined retirees to QCDs first and reserve deductible cash gifts for amounts above the QCD limit.
Substantiation is where deductions actually die, not on the percentage math. The $250 contemporaneous written acknowledgment rule under §170(f)(8) is unforgiving: a canceled check does not satisfy it, and the acknowledgment must be in hand before filing. For non-cash gifts we get Form 8283 signed, and above $5,000 we order the qualified appraisal early. We have seen large noncash and conservation deductions denied in full over a missing appraiser signature, not over valuation. We treat the paperwork as part of the gift, not an afterthought.
Real-World Scenarios
When This Framework Does Not Apply
- The 35 percent benefit cap for top-bracket taxpayers. OBBBA limits the value of itemized deductions, including charitable, to 35 cents per dollar for taxpayers in the 37 percent bracket. That cap affects the after-tax benefit, not the deduction amount this guide and the calculator compute.
- Prior-year carryover stacking. A carryover from an earlier year competes with current-year gifts for the same AGI ceilings under the §170(d) ordering. The calculator computes the current year's deduction and its new carryover; it does not layer in a prior carryover.
- Qualified conservation contributions. Conservation easements use the 50 percent limit (100 percent for qualified farmers and ranchers) and a 15-year carryover under §170(b)(1)(E), and they face heightened IRS scrutiny and appraisal rules.
- Corporations. A C corporation is limited to 10 percent of taxable income with a new 1 percent floor under §170(b)(2); this guide addresses individual donors.
- Reduced-deduction property. Ordinary-income property, inventory, taxidermy, donor-created art, certain patents, and tangible personal property put to an unrelated use are reduced to basis under §170(e). Value such gifts at the reduced deductible amount.
- Foreign charities and non-qualified recipients. Gifts to most foreign organizations, political groups, individuals, and homeowners' associations are not deductible at all. Treaty exceptions apply to certain Canadian, Mexican, and Israeli charities.
- State conformity. Many states do not follow the federal 0.5 percent floor or the §170(p) non-itemizer deduction, and several offer their own charitable credits. The federal figure may not match the state return.
Frequently Asked Questions
What to Do Next
Run the Charitable Contribution Deduction Calculator with your cash gift and AGI to see the 2026 floor effect and whether you clear the 60 percent ceiling. Then confirm itemizing still beats the standard deduction with the Itemize vs Standard Deduction Calculator, since the charitable total stacks with your other Schedule A items.
For 2026, you can deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 MFJ) of cash gifts above the line under §170(p). Set Deduction Method to standard and Tax Year to 2026 in the calculator, and keep the gifts in cash to a public charity, not a donor-advised fund. The Standard Deduction Guide covers the 2026 amounts.
Give the shares directly rather than selling and donating cash: you deduct full fair market value within the 30 percent ceiling and avoid the capital gains tax. Enter the FMV in the capital gain property field to see the ceiling and carryover, and confirm your AGI with the AGI & MAGI Calculator.
Consider bunching multiple years of giving into one through a donor-advised fund so the annual floor is cleared once. For donors over 70 and a half, a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA bypasses the floor and the percentage limits entirely. Read the OBBBA Tax Changes Guide for how the new floor fits the broader 2026 changes.
Related Tools and Guides
- IRC §170 (Cornell LII) — Charitable, etc., contributions and gifts — (b)(1)(A) 50% limit; (b)(1)(B) 30% non-50% organizations; (b)(1)(C) 30% capital gain property to public charities; (b)(1)(D) 20% capital gain property to private foundations; (b)(1)(E) conservation contributions; (b)(1)(G) 60% cash limit; (b)(1)(H) contribution base; (b)(1)(I) the new 0.5% floor; (b)(2) corporate 1% floor and 10% ceiling; (d)(1) 5-year carryover; (e) reduced-deduction property; (f)(8) substantiation; (p) non-itemizer above-the-line deduction.
- IRS Publication 526 — Charitable Contributions — Deduction-limit worksheets and category ordering; the 60/50/30/20 percent limits; qualified organizations; non-cash property valuation; the carryover rules; and recordkeeping.
- IRS — Charitable Contribution Deductions — Overview of deductible gifts, the AGI percentage limits, types of qualifying organizations, and recordkeeping requirements.
- IRS Schedule A (Form 1040) and Instructions — Line 11 (gifts by cash or check), line 12 (gifts other than cash or check, Form 8283), line 13 (carryover from prior year), and line 14 (total gifts to charity).
- IRS About Form 8283 — Noncash Charitable Contributions — Required for non-cash gifts over $500; the qualified appraisal requirement for gifts over $5,000 and the appraiser signature in Section B.
- IRS Publication 1771 — Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements — The §170(f)(8) contemporaneous written acknowledgment rule for gifts of $250 or more and the quid pro quo disclosure rules for payments over $75.
- Tax Foundation — Changes to Charitable Giving Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — Independent analysis of the new 0.5% itemizer floor, the restored non-itemizer deduction, the permanent 60% cash limit, the 1% corporate floor, and the 35% benefit cap.