Reporting Noncash Charitable Contributions on Form 8283

What is Form 8283 used for?

Form 8283 is used to report noncash donations exceeding $500. If you are claiming a charitable contribution deduction and have a significant amount of noncash donations, you may be required to file Form 8283 as well as the Schedule A.

Donations made by check, credit or debit card, or cash do not need to be reported on Form 8283. If you have personal expenses for volunteer work, these expenses are reportedly similarly to cash donations. Form 8283 is only used for the donation of goods, securities, vehicles, real estate, and other noncash assets to qualified organizations.

Do I need to file multiple copies of Form 8283 if I made several donations?

If you made several cash donations, you only need to aggregate them and report them on Schedule A. However, noncash donations that exceed $500 total or that require an appraisal require Form 8283.

For example, you are moving and donating a significant amount of personal property. You estimate that you have donated $750 worth of clothing and household items in multiple trips to Goodwill, and you also donated your car to charity with a blue book value of $2,000. You would need to file one Form 8283 and include the Goodwill donations, and the vehicle donation.

Both go in Part I of the form since their fair market value is less than $5,000. For vehicle donations that exceed $500, there must be written acknowledgement from the donee, which is typically reported on Form 1098-C with Copy B furnished to the donor.

The name of the charity and description of donated property must be included. If each individual trip to Goodwill was valued at less than $500, additional information on how much you paid, how you acquired these items, and fair market value does not need to be supplied on Form 8283.

Am I required to get an appraisal if I file Form 8283?

If your noncash donation is valued at less than $5,000, an appraisal is generally not required. However, if the value is $5,000 or greater, a qualified appraiser must fill out Part IV. In some cases, the donee must also fill out Part V which acknowledges their receipt of the property. This is more common with high-value donations such as art and real estate.

Even if your noncash donation is less than $5,000, you are required to have written substantiation from the charity for any noncash donations exceeding $250. For clothing and household items in particular, they must be in good condition and several charities will have valuation guides for items that are commonly donated.

If a single donation or aggregate number of donations throughout the year is estimated to exceed $500, you should keep an inventory of these items as well as pictures in the event your donation record is examined. A qualified appraisal is recommended for donated household items exceeding $500 regardless of condition, if you plan to donate several items.

About the Author

Jo Willetts, Director of Tax Resources at Jackson Hewitt, has more than 35 years of experience in the tax industry. As an Enrolled Agent, Jo has attained the highest level of certification for a tax professional. She began her career at Jackson Hewitt as a Tax Pro, working her way up to General Manager of a franchise store. In her current role, Jo provides expert knowledge company-wide to ensure that tax information distributed through all Jackson Hewitt channels is current and accurate.

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