What Charitable Gifts Are Tax Deductible?

Not all charitable gifts are treated equally by the tax code. Cash, appreciated stock, and real property each come with their own deduction limits, and donating an appreciated asset directly can sometimes be more tax-efficient than selling it first and donating the proceeds.

These limits are typically expressed as a percentage of adjusted gross income, which means larger gifts sometimes need to be planned across more than one tax year to fully capture the deduction.