Charitable Deductions Up Sharply, IRS Says

Preliminary statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service show that the deductions Americans claimed for charitable contributions rose from $75-billion in 1995 to an estimated $84.3-billion in 1996, a rise of 12.4 per cent (see chart at right). The jump was nearly twice as high as the 6.3 per cent registered between 1994 and 1995, and was the largest of the 1990s.

The I.R.S. figure for 1996 was much higher than the 6.9-per-cent increase estimated for that year by Giving USA, which is published by the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel Trust for Philanthropy (The Chronicle, June 12, 1997). However, Giving USA’s calculation included donations by individuals who do not itemize deductions on their tax returns while the I.R.S. figures represent only those who claim deductions.

The I.R.S. statistics show that the percentage of individual returns that included write-offs for donations edged up in 1996 to 26.2 per cent of all returns. The average contribution claimed on each return rose from $2,455 in 1995 to $2,668 in 1996. The figure was $1,326 in 1985 and $1,958 in 1990.

The I.R.S., which will revise the preliminary statistics in coming months before making them final, published the data in its Statistics of Income Bulletin for winter 1997-98. The report may be obtained for $15 a copy from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh 15250-7954.