Noncash Contributions: Charitable Deductions (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Noncash Contributions” 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

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.

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) 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:

   1. A description (but not necessarily the value) of any property you contributed,

   2. 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

   3. 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:

   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.

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, Section A, and have the CWA, earlier. Your completed Form 8283, Section A, 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.

   1. 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.

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

   3. In the case of real or tangible property, its condition.

   4. 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.

   5. 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.

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

   7. 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.

   8. 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.

See the Instructions for Form 8283 for additional guidance.

Deductions Over $5,000

If you claim a deduction of over $5,000 for a noncash charitable contribution, you must have the contemporaneous written acknowledgement (see CWA, earlier), obtain a qualified written appraisal of the donated property from a qualified appraiser, and complete Form 8283, Section B. 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 Pub. 561 for more information. Note: Digital assets are not publicly traded securities for the purposes of Form 8283, Section B, 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 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.

   1. The FMV on the valuation effective date.

   2. 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 the instructions for Form 8283, Qualified Conservation Contribution, earlier, and in Pub. 561.

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: Substantiation Requirements — Noncash Contributions — 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.