Are charity auction items and Girl Scout cookies tax deductible?
Only what you pay above the item’s value. Paying the going rate for a week at a beach house or a box of cookies buys something, so it isn’t a gift.
The rule
Paying a charity for something is a purchase, even a cheerful one. Only what you pay above its fair market value is a gift, and only if you paid it meaning to give.
Win a week at a beach house for $600 when that is no more than it would rent for, and nothing is deductible. Pay $1,500 for a week worth $1,200 and $300 is a gift.
Cookies, wrapping paper and candles from a fundraiser work the same way: bought at about their price, they aren’t gifts.
An example at a 22% federal bracket: $1,500 for an auction week worth $1,200 is a $300 gift, $66 back.
- Without itemizing
- Cash above the value, up to $1,000
- If you itemize
- Above the value
- What to keep
- The charity’s statement of the item’s value, which it owes you for a payment over $75 that is partly a gift.
- Watch for
- Giving an item to the auction is a gift of goods: its used value counts if you itemize, and it doesn’t count toward the $1,000 without itemizing.
Checked on October 2, 2026 against Publication 526, Charitable Contributions and Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
Federal tax only. States set their own rules for gifts.
Keep every gift with its receipt.
From 2026, up to $1,000 of cash gifts counts even without itemizing. Reimburse keeps each gift with the charity’s receipt, asks for the paper the IRS wants, and shows what it puts back.