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Cars, Boats, and Airplanes: Charitable Deductions (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Cars, Boats, and Airplanes” within charitable deductions. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Context for these 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;

  • 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.

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 and the exceptions discussed later don’t apply, 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.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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