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Is a Particular Charity Contribution Potentially Tax Deductible?

SUMMARY: View the IRS tax deductible status for a particular charity.

For financial reasons, when choosing a particular charity in which to donate, many people look at whether or not the donation is tax deductible. For those who itemize deductions, contributions to these organizations, as long as the IRS rules are followed, may be deducted. *

While the IRS distributes a Publication 78 that lists charities eligible to receive such donations, a website allows one to search for appropriate charities by organization name, location, or deductibility code (this usually covers limitations for deductions).

Screenshot of IRS Publication 78, online version, tax year 2008

Note that some organizations may start with the word "the", so factor this in when performing a search. To limit the results, you may want to find the city and state where the charity resides and use a combination city and charity name search to confirm a charity's status.

Online Version of IRS Publication 78 - http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/

Read the disclaimer.

* Note this tip was written on February 19, 2009. The IRS may alter or take this site offline without notice. This tip is not meant as an advertisement to donate to any particular charity. Other factors may determine how much one can deduct from donations or prohibit deductions, so for information on charity deductions including limitations, contact your accountant or tax attorney.