Charitable Deductions Rose in 2005, Report Says

Statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service show that deductions claimed for charitable contributions rose to $183.4-billion in 2005, compared with $165.6-billion in 2004, an increase of nearly 10.8 percent. From 2003 to 2004, deductions claimed for charitable contributions increased by 13.6 percent.

The IRS figures show that the average contribution claimed on donors’ tax returns rose from $4,076 in 2004 to $4,432 in 2005, the highest average donation recorded in the quarter-century for which the government has data.

The percentage of returns that included write-offs for donations barely increased from 2004 to 2005, from 30.7 percent to 30.8 percent of all returns.

To view the IRS’s updated information on charitable donations, go to http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=175788,00.html and select Historical Table 1.