August 19, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
New statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service show that deductions claimed for charitable
contributions declined in 2002, falling from $139.2-billion in 2001 to $136.3-billion in 2002, a drop of 2.1 percent. The decline is only the second drop in two decades of steadily rising giving, the IRS said. The first decline, of 1 percent, was posted in 2001.
The IRS statistics show that the percentage of returns that included write-offs for donations edged up in 2002, to 31.1 percent of all returns filed by Americans. The average contribution claimed on a return fell from $3,535 in 2001 to $3,372 in 2002. The figure peaked at $3,749 in 2000.
The IRS, which will revise the statistics in coming months before making them final, published the data in its Statistics of Income Bulletin for spring 2004.
The report may be obtained for $39 from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15250-7954. The data are free online; to view the updated charitable-donations statistics, go to http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=115033,00.html and select Table 1.
| Total Amount (in billions) | ||
 |
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|
1997
|
$99.2
|
|
| |
||
|
1998
|
$109.2
|
|
| |
||
|
1999
|
$125.8
|
|
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||
|
2000
|
$140.7
|
|
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||
|
2001
|
$139.2
|
|
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||
|
2002
|
$136.4
|
|
| |
||
| Percentage of Returns | ||
| |
||
|
1997
|
26.6%
|
|
| |
||
|
1998
|
27.1%
|
|
| |
||
|
1999
|
28.0%
|
|
| |
||
|
2000
|
29.0%
|
|
| |
||
|
2001
|
30.2%
|
|
| |
||
|
2002
|
31.1%
|
|
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||
| Average Contribution per Return | ||
| |
||
|
1997
|
$3,041
|
|
| |
||
|
1998
|
$3,229
|
|
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||
|
1999
|
$3,541
|
|
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||
|
2000
|
$3,749
|
|
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|
2001
|
$3,535
|
|
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||
|
2002
|
$3,372
|
|
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||
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SOURCE: Internal Revenue Service
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