Charitable Contribution Deduction Calculator (US)

About the Charitable Contribution Deduction Calculator (US)

Work out how much of your gifts to charity you can deduct on your US federal return, and what it saves. The deduction is limited to a share of your adjusted gross income: 60% for cash to public charities, 50% for other property given to them, 30% for appreciated property held more than a year (or 50% with the basis election), 30% for gifts to private non-operating foundations and other organizations, 20% for appreciated property given to those — each limit reduced by the gifts counted before it, with the excess carried forward for 5 years.

For tax year 2026 the rules change: if you itemize, only gifts above 0.5% of your AGI count; if you do not, you can deduct up to $1,000 of cash ($2,000 on a joint return) given to public charities (not donor-advised funds or supporting organizations); and in the 37% bracket itemized deductions are trimmed by 2/37. The calculator applies IRS Publication 526’s Worksheet 2 for 2025 and the amended section 170 for 2026, compares itemizing with the standard deduction and works out the federal income tax saved. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Without a pass the page gives a free preview of your own result: the deduction in full, with the first rows of each table; a Pro pass opens the carryforward, the tax saved, the split by kind of gift, the working, the copy, the CSV and printing.

The limits and their order

• Cash to public charities (churches, schools, hospitals, publicly supported charities, private operating foundations): up to 60% of AGI.
• Other property to them: up to 50% of AGI less the cash allowed.
• Appreciated property held over a year (capital gain property) given to them at fair market value: up to 30%, after your other gifts to them; or, with the 50% election, at your basis under the 50% limit.
• Gifts to other organizations (private non-operating foundations, many veterans’ and fraternal groups, cemeteries) or “for the use of” a charity: up to 30%, and no more than what is left of 50% after the gifts to public charities.
• Appreciated property to those other organizations: up to 20%, after everything else.

The steps follow [Publication 526]([object Object]), Worksheet 2. From 2026, cash is limited to 60% of AGI less the gifts under the 50% limit, and the 30% limit is measured against the gifts actually allowed, less cash up to 10% of AGI ([Public Law 119-21]([object Object]), section 70425).

What changes in 2026

• The 0.5% floor: if you itemize, gifts count only above 0.5% of your AGI. The floor takes the 20% gifts first and the 60% cash last; what it takes is carried forward only from a year in which a limit is exceeded.
• Non-itemizers: with the standard deduction you can also deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to public charities ($2,000 married filing jointly) — not property, not donor-advised funds or supporting organizations, and not carryovers.
• The 37% bracket: itemized deductions are reduced by 2/37 of the smaller of the deductions or the taxable income above where the 37% bracket starts ($640,600 single, $768,700 joint for 2026).

The IRS describes the same changes on [Form 1040-ES]([object Object]).

Carrying the excess forward

Gifts the limits do not allow carry forward for the next 5 years, in the same kind: a 30% gift stays a 30% gift. In each later year you deduct that year’s own gifts of a kind first, then the carryovers, oldest first; a carryover to a public charity is used before that year’s gifts to other organizations. This calculator works out the carryforward from this year’s gifts; it does not apply carryovers you bring in from earlier years ([Publication 526]([object Object]), Carryovers).

Records the IRS asks for

Keep a bank record or a receipt for every cash gift; get a written acknowledgment from the charity, by the time you file, for any single gift of $250 or more (it must say whether you got anything in return); file Form 8283 when your property gifts total more than $500; and get a qualified appraisal for most property over $5,000 (publicly traded stock excepted). Only the part of a payment above the value of what you received back counts.

Official sources

• [IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions]([object Object]) — limits, Worksheet 2, carryovers, records
• [IRS Interactive Tax Assistant: Can I deduct my charitable contributions?]([object Object])
• [Public Law 119-21 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act)]([object Object]) — sections 70111, 70424 and 70425
• [IRS Form 1040-ES (2026)]([object Object]) — the 2026 changes
• [IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40]([object Object]) and [Rev. Proc. 2025-32]([object Object]) — tax rates and standard deductions

Limitations

• Carryovers from earlier years, qualified conservation contributions, qualified charitable distributions from an IRA and gifts by a business are not worked out.
• Enter property at the amount you can deduct: the value rules (fair market value, basis for short-term property, special rules for cars, inventory and property to private foundations) are for you to apply.
• The tax saved is federal income tax only, from the 2025 or 2026 rate tables, with the qualified business income deduction and other deductions taken as entered; state tax and credits are not included.
• For 2026, where gifts are over half your AGI in more than one kind, the split between this year and the carryforward follows our reading of the amended section 170: have it confirmed.

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