What does the IRS require for your donation?
Answer three questions and see exactly which substantiation applies — acknowledgment, Form 8283 section, whether a qualified appraisal is required, and whether the appraisal has to be attached to the return. Every answer cites the rule it comes from.
1 What are you donating?
2 How much deduction will you claim?
Enter the total for this item or for the whole group of similar items you are donating this year — see the aggregation warning below, because this is the single most common mistake.
3
Start with what you are donating
Nothing is calculated until you choose a category.
The general tiers
For most property, the requirement steps up at four dollar amounts. Note that every tier uses “more than” — a deduction of exactly $5,000 stays in Section A; $5,000.01 crosses into Section B.
| Deduction claimed | What is required | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Under $250 | A receipt from the charity showing its name and address, the date, and a detailed description. No Form 8283. | |
| $250 or more | A contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity — a plain receipt is no longer enough. | IRC §170(f)(8) |
| More than $500 | Form 8283, Section A. | IRC §170(f)(11)(B) |
| More than $5,000 | Form 8283, Section B and a qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser. | IRC §170(f)(11)(C) |
| More than $500,000 | Everything above, and the appraisal itself must be attached to the return. | IRC §170(f)(11)(D) |
The thresholds are not tested per item. You must add up the deduction claimed for all similar items of property donated during the tax year — and that total crosses donee organizations. Three boxes of books given to three different schools at $2,000, $2,500 and $900 is a $5,400 group, and it needs a qualified appraisal.
“Similar items” means the same generic category or type — coin collections, paintings, books, land, buildings, clothing, jewelry, furniture, silver. One appraisal can cover the whole group, but it has to give the required information for each item.
Authority: Treas. Reg. §1.170A-16(f)(5), §1.170A-13(c)(7)(iii), and the Form 8283 instructions.
“Available upon request” is not an answer. The Form 8283 instructions state you may not fill a required field that way. Doing so makes the filing non-responsive and the deduction can be disallowed outright.
The appraiser's fee may not be tied to value. A fee based to any extent on the appraised value — or on the deduction ultimately allowed — disqualifies the appraisal. Appraisal fees are also not themselves deductible as a charitable contribution.
Authority: Treas. Reg. §1.170A-17(a)(9); Pub. 561; Form 8283 instructions.
What makes an appraisal “qualified”
When the regulations say qualified appraisal, they mean twelve specific things have to be in the document, and the person signing it has to meet a defined test. This is the part that gets deductions disallowed years later, long after the gift.
The appraiser
- Either coursework in valuing that type of property plus two or more years of experience valuing it, or a recognized appraiser designation for that property type
- Performs appraisals regularly for compensation
- States their education and experience in the appraisal itself, and declares that those qualify them for that property type
- Is not the donor, the donee, or a party to the transaction in which the donor acquired the property — nor employed by or related to any of them
- Has not been barred from practice before the IRS in the three years ending on the appraisal signature date
Treas. Reg. §1.170A-17(b); IRC §170(f)(11)(E); Pub. 561.
The report
- Description sufficient to identify the property; condition, for real or tangible personal property
- Valuation effective date, and fair market value on that date
- Terms of any agreement about use, sale, or disposition of the property
- Date, or expected date, of the contribution
- Appraiser name, address, and taxpayer ID; qualifications including education and experience
- A statement that it was prepared for income tax purposes
- Method of valuation and the specific basis for it
- Appraiser signature, date, and the §6695A penalty declaration
- Prepared in accordance with USPAP
Treas. Reg. §1.170A-17(a)(1)–(3).
The appraiser must sign and date the report no earlier than 60 days before the date of the contribution and no later than the due date, including extensions, of the return on which the deduction is first claimed. You must have the report in hand by that same date.
The valuation effective date follows from when the report is signed. Signed before the gift: the effective date must fall within the 60 days before the gift and no later than the gift date. Signed on or after the gift: the effective date must be the date of the contribution.
Authority: Treas. Reg. §1.170A-17(a)(4) and (a)(5). Our valuation date tool will work the window out from your contribution date.
If the value is challenged
The penalty structure is worth understanding before you file, because it is what makes a defensible appraisal worth paying for.
- 20% penalty where the claimed value is 150% or more of the correct value and the resulting underpayment exceeds $5,000 — IRC §6662(e)
- 40% penalty where the claimed value is 200% or more of correct — IRC §6662(h)
- The reasonable-cause defense to a valuation overstatement on charitable deduction property is available only if the value was based on a qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser and you also made a good-faith investigation of value. Both prongs — IRC §6664(c)(3)
- The appraiser is separately exposed under IRC §6695A, with an escape only if the value was “more likely than not the proper value”
That last point is the honest reason a credentialed appraiser is careful with your number: the statute puts the appraiser's own money behind it.
One 2026 change worth knowing. Beginning in 2026, an individual who itemizes may deduct charitable contributions only to the extent they exceed 0.5% of the contribution base, and corporations face a 1% floor. This changes what you can deduct; it does not change the appraisal or Form 8283 thresholds above. Ask your CPA how the floor affects your return — IRC §170(b)(1)(I) and (b)(2)(A); IRS Pub. 505 (2026).
This tool organizes published rules so you can see where you stand before you call anyone. It is not tax, legal, or engineering advice, and it is not a determination. Confirm the outcome with your CPA, your attorney, or the official who actually makes the decision.
Sources
Where these rules come from
Every threshold and requirement on this page traces to one of the following. Read them yourself — we would rather you did.
- Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025) — the form itself
- Instructions for Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025) — section A vs B, signatures, attachment triggers
- Publication 561 — Determining the Value of Donated Property (Rev. December 2025) — excluded appraisers, art rules, Statement of Value
- Treas. Reg. §1.170A-16 — substantiation by tier, aggregation
- Treas. Reg. §1.170A-17 — qualified appraisal and qualified appraiser
- Treas. Reg. §1.170A-18 — clothing and household items
- IRC §170 — the statute
- IRC §6662, §6664, §6695A — valuation misstatement and appraiser penalties
Want this handled properly?
We prepare qualified appraisals that contain every element the regulations enumerate, including the appraiser declaration and the USPAP compliance the IRS is actually asking for. Quoting is free, the fee is fixed in writing before any work begins, and a credentialed appraiser signs the report.