Do I have to itemise to benefit?

Yes. Charitable contributions are itemised deductions reported on Schedule A. If your standard deduction is larger than your total itemised deductions, the gift produces no federal tax benefit. This calculator does not make that comparison — it assumes you are itemising.

How does it treat a donated vehicle?

A vehicle is property, so the calculator applies the 30% property ceiling to it. That is only half the story: a vehicle deduction is usually limited to the gross proceeds the charity reports on Form 1098-C when it sells the car, and the tool does not model that limit at all.

What happens to the amount over the limit?

It is not lost. Excess contributions generally carry forward for up to five tax years, subject to the same percentage ceilings in each. The calculator reports the carryover for the year entered but does not track it across future years.

Does it check whether the charity qualifies?

No. Only gifts to qualified organisations are deductible, and the organisation name is stored purely for your own records. Verify status using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search before assuming a gift counts — political contributions and gifts to individuals never do.

Does it handle donor-advised funds or qualified charitable distributions?

No. Donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions from an IRA, conservation easements, bargain sales and the special disaster-relief provisions that have temporarily raised limits in some years all have their own rules that this calculator does not implement.

What documentation will I need?

A written acknowledgment for any single gift of $250 or more, Form 8283 for noncash gifts over $500, a qualified appraisal above $5,000, and Form 1098-C for vehicles. Bank records suffice for smaller cash gifts.

Which tax year do these ceilings apply to?

The 60%-of-AGI ceiling for cash gifts to public charities has applied since the 2018 tax year under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Percentage limits have been altered by legislation before — most recently for pandemic-era relief — so confirm the current year’s rules before filing.

Charitable Donation Deduction Calculator with AGI Limits

Charitable Donation Deduction Calculator with AGI LimitsThe Charitable Deduction Calculator is a free browser-based tool that estimates how much of your charitable giving is deductible this year and how much carries forward to later years. You enter your adjusted gross income, then add each gift and mark it as cash, property or vehicle. The calculator applies the percentage-of-AGI ceiling for that gift type — 60% for cash gifts to qualified public charities, 30% for property — caps the deduction at that limit, and reports anything above it as carryover, which may generally be used over the following five tax years. It produces an estimate, assumes you itemise, and is not tax advice.

What people use it for

Testing whether one large gift is deductible in full

A donor planning an unusually large year-end gift needs to know whether the whole amount lands this year or spills into future returns. Entering the gift against this year’s AGI shows the ceiling, the portion allowed now, and the carryover figure — which is often the number that decides whether to give it all at once.

Comparing a cash gift with appreciated stock

Cash and long-term appreciated property carry different ceilings, 60% and 30% of AGI respectively, so the same generosity produces two different deductions. Entering the amount twice, once as cash and once as property, makes the gap explicit before you instruct a broker to transfer shares — a decision that is difficult to unwind afterwards.

Deciding whether to bunch two years of giving

Bunching means concentrating several years of donations into one tax year so the itemised total clears the standard deduction. Running the combined amount against a single year’s AGI shows whether the ceiling absorbs it or whether a large slice would simply become carryover — which would defeat much of the point of bunching in the first place.

Totalling a shoebox of receipts at year end

Add one entry per donation with the organisation name filled in, and the per-gift breakdown prints each amount, its AGI ceiling, the allowed deduction and any excess above it. That printout, filed alongside the acknowledgment letters, is a far better record at the end of the year than a spreadsheet total with no arithmetic behind it.

How it works

Enter your adjusted gross income AGI appears on line 11 of Form 1040. Every ceiling on the page is a percentage of this figure, so an estimated AGI necessarily produces an estimated deduction rather than a filing-ready number.
Add each donation separately Use "Add Donation" for every gift, choose cash, property or vehicle, enter the amount, and optionally record the organisation. Each entry is measured against the ceiling for its own type.
Calculate The calculate button stays disabled until AGI is filled in. Pressing it applies the percentage ceiling to every gift and aggregates the results across all the entries you have added.
Read the four summary cards They report total donations, the deduction allowed this year, the carryover amount, and the allowed deduction expressed as a percentage of your AGI — a quick check on how close you are to the ceiling.
Review the breakdown and print Each gift row shows the AGI limit arithmetic in full, and any gift above its ceiling shows the excess. The print button produces a copy to file alongside your donation receipts.

Worked examples

Input: AGI of $100,000 with one cash gift of $12,000 to a qualified public charity.

Result: The cash ceiling is 60% of AGI, or $60,000, so the entire $12,000 is allowed this year with no carryover. The percentage-of-AGI card reads 12.00%, showing there is a great deal of headroom before the limit begins to bite.

Input: AGI of $80,000 with a single cash gift of $60,000.

Result: The ceiling is 60% of $80,000, or $48,000. The calculator allows $48,000 this year and reports $12,000 as carryover, usable in the following five tax years subject to the same limits. The percentage-of-AGI card reads exactly 60.00%, meaning the ceiling was reached.

Input: AGI of $150,000 with $60,000 of appreciated stock entered as Property.

Result: Property is capped at 30% of AGI, so the ceiling is $45,000. The calculator allows $45,000 now and carries $15,000 forward. Entering the same $60,000 as cash instead would show the full amount allowed — the ceiling, not the amount given, is what differs.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to itemise to benefit?: Yes. Charitable contributions are itemised deductions reported on Schedule A. If your standard deduction is larger than your total itemised deductions, the gift produces no federal tax benefit. This calculator does not make that comparison — it assumes you are itemising.
How does it treat a donated vehicle?: A vehicle is property, so the calculator applies the 30% property ceiling to it. That is only half the story: a vehicle deduction is usually limited to the gross proceeds the charity reports on Form 1098-C when it sells the car, and the tool does not model that limit at all.
What happens to the amount over the limit?: It is not lost. Excess contributions generally carry forward for up to five tax years, subject to the same percentage ceilings in each. The calculator reports the carryover for the year entered but does not track it across future years.
Does it check whether the charity qualifies?: No. Only gifts to qualified organisations are deductible, and the organisation name is stored purely for your own records. Verify status using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search before assuming a gift counts — political contributions and gifts to individuals never do.
Does it handle donor-advised funds or qualified charitable distributions?: No. Donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions from an IRA, conservation easements, bargain sales and the special disaster-relief provisions that have temporarily raised limits in some years all have their own rules that this calculator does not implement.
What documentation will I need?: A written acknowledgment for any single gift of $250 or more, Form 8283 for noncash gifts over $500, a qualified appraisal above $5,000, and Form 1098-C for vehicles. Bank records suffice for smaller cash gifts.
Which tax year do these ceilings apply to?: The 60%-of-AGI ceiling for cash gifts to public charities has applied since the 2018 tax year under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Percentage limits have been altered by legislation before — most recently for pandemic-era relief — so confirm the current year’s rules before filing.

Tips

Enter AGI from Form 1040 line 11, not gross salary — every ceiling on this page is computed from AGI, so the wrong starting number invalidates the result.
Split cash and noncash gifts into separate entries; they carry different ceilings and the calculator applies the limit entry by entry.
Donating appreciated stock held over a year can also avoid capital gains tax, even though the AGI ceiling is lower — worth modelling both routes.
Compare your total itemised deductions against the standard deduction before assuming any tax saving; the calculator does not do this for you.
Print the breakdown at year end and file it with the acknowledgment letters — nothing you enter here survives closing the page.

Written by Ahsan Mahmood. Last updated 2026-07-21. This calculator runs entirely in your browser and produces estimates, not tax advice.TaxEase — Charitable Donation Deduction Calculator with AGI Limits