Are raffle tickets tax deductible?
No. A raffle, bingo or lottery ticket is a chance to win, not a gift, even when every dollar goes to the charity.
The rule
What you pay for raffle or lottery tickets, or to play bingo or other games of chance, isn’t a charitable contribution, whoever runs the game.
If you buy tickets and also give, the gift counts on its own.
Tickets can count as gambling losses against gambling winnings, which have their own rules.
- Without itemizing
- No
- If you itemize
- No
- What to keep
- Tickets and records of what you spent, if you have winnings to offset.
Checked on October 2, 2026 against Publication 526, 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.