Are charity gala and dinner tickets tax deductible?
Only the part above what the evening is worth. Pay $500 for tickets to a dinner worth $200 and $300 is a gift. The charity should tell you what the evening is worth.
The rule
When you pay a charity more than something is worth, the extra is a gift. For a ball, a dinner, a show or a game, the value is the event’s usual price if it has one, or a reasonable value for attending if it doesn’t.
A $65 church dinner dance worth $25 is a $40 gift. A ticket printed with the word “contribution” doesn’t change that.
Whether you go makes no difference. If you give the ticket back for the charity to resell, the whole amount is a gift.
For any payment over $75 that is partly a gift, the charity has to give you a written statement of what you received and a good-faith estimate of its value.
An example at a 22% federal bracket: $500 of tickets to a dinner worth $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 ticket or the charity’s statement showing what you paid and what the event is worth.
Checked on October 2, 2026 against Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure and Topic 506, Charitable contributions. 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.