My Charitable Tax Deduction for Stock. How do I claim it?

Make the most of your generosity by ensuring you get the biggest deduction possible when you file your taxes. 

If your gift of appreciated stock was valued at over $250, the receiving nonprofit must provide you with a written charitable acknowledgment letter. To figure out how much to deduct from your taxes, the general rule of thumb is to deduct the fair market value, which is the average of the high/low value of the stock on the day it was received by the nonprofit. 

The charitable acknowledgment letter from the receiving nonprofit will state the gift description (number and type of shares) and the date the nonprofit received your gift. 

Tax Forms... You Gotta Do It!

Form 8283

Form 8283 is the Non-cash Charitable Contributions form for the 1040 tax return. 

To make filling this form out as easy as possible, it is a good idea to have the following information handy:

• The name and the address of the nonprofit that received your donation
• The gift description (the number of shares and the name of the company/stock ticker)
• Date the gift was received by the nonprofit (this can be found in your charitable acknowledgement letter)
• The fair market value of your stock donation
• How you determined the fair market value
• Original purchase date (month and year) of the donated stock

Here's an example form for reference:

*NOTE: If you only donated publicly-traded stock that tax year, you don't have to fill out Section B, including the signature

Overflow does not provide tax, legal, compliance, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, compliance, or accounting advice. Your organization should consult its own tax, legal, compliance, and accounting advisors before sending or concluding any transaction, communication, or otherwise.