Records of charitable contributions

Records of charitable contributions are often needed when a tax payer files for charitable contributions tax deductions to the IRS. More records of charitable contributions are needed when the amount of charitable contributions increase.

Gifting of property value less than $250

Records and documents you need for gifts of property with a value of less than $250 are your own records. Your records of the charitable contributions should include a list of the property and the estimated value.

Gift of property with a value of $250 to $500

When you give charitable contributions of value between $250 and $500, you need a receipt from the charity. The IRS describes the receipt of your charitable contribution you need as a "contemporaneous written acknowledgment."

Gift of property with a value of $500 to $5,000

If you give charitable contributions of value between $500 and $5,000, you need not only the receipt from the charitable organization acknowledging your charitable contribution, but you have to complete IRS Form 8283 and attach it to your return.  Click here to obtain the IRS Form 8283.

Gift of property with a value over $5,000

If you give a charitable contribution of over $5,000, you need an appraisal unless you are donating publicly traded securities. An appraisal summary (which is Part B of the IRS Form 8283) must be attached to your return. You keep the actual appraisal (in a safe place), unless the property is art appraised at $20,000 or more. In the latter case, include a copy of the appraisal in your tax return.

If you make a gift of art with an appraised value of $50,000 or more, you can request the IRS to issue a Statement of Value to you, which states what the IRS will accept as a value for your charitable contribution. It is not mandatory that you obtain this statement from the IRS, but if you don't like arguments and suspense, it's a safe course to take.