February 8, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
By GRANT WILLIAMS
New statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service show that deductions claimed for charitable contributions rose from $99.2-billion in 1997 to an estimated $109.2-billion in 1998, an increase of 10.1 percent.
The jump marks the third straight year that charitable deductions claimed by Americans rose by 10 percent or more. An increase of 15.1 percent was registered from 1996 to 1997, and 14.9 percent was seen from 1995 to 1996.
The I.R.S. said that the biggest factor fueling the increases of the past three years was a nearly 100-percent rise in “other than cash contributions.” Only single-digit growth in deductions occurred throughout the earlier part of the 1990’s.
Last year, the revenue service released preliminary figures that showed a smaller, 6.2-percent increase in the total amount written off from 1997 to 1998.
The Internal Revenue Service updates its numbers as it continues to analyze data on taxpayers.
The revised statistics show that the average gift claimed on each tax return rose from $3,041 in 1997 to $3,228 in 1998. The government’s preliminary figures had shown a smaller increase — to $3,123 — in 1998.
The rejiggered statistics show that the percentage of individual tax returns that included write-offs for donations edged up in 1998, to 27.1 percent of all returns, the highest share recorded during the decade to date.
The Internal Revenue Service published the revised information in its Statistics of Income Bulletin for fall 2000. Copies of the publication may be obtained for $22 from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15250-7954.
