Limits on Deductions — Limits: Charitable Deductions (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Limits on Deductions — Limits” 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

Tip: 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 the type of organization you give it to. 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 11b.

If your contributions are more than any of the limits that apply, see Carryovers under How To Figure Your Deduction When Limits Apply, later.

Limits on Deductions — 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.

Tip: 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 $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.

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

• Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions: Limits on Deductions — Limits — Internal Revenue Service; 2025 edition.

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.