03 May, 2026

IRS Form 8283: When and How to File for Non-Cash Donations

TL;DR — IRS Form 8283 at a glance: File IRS Form 8283 when total non-cash donations exceed $500 in a tax year. Section A covers items or groups of similar items valued at $5,000 or less — no appraisal required. Section B is required for items valued over $5,000 and triggers the qualified appraisal requirement. Attach the form to your Form 1040 by the filing deadline.

When is Form 8283 required?

IRS Form 8283 (Noncash Charitable Contributions) is required whenever your total non-cash charitable donations for the tax year exceed $500.

This is a combined threshold — it applies to the total fair market value of all non-cash donations across all charities for the entire year. A single bag of clothing worth $150 doesn’t trigger it. But three bags totaling $600 in fair market value does.

What counts as a non-cash donation?

Clothing, household goods, furniture, and electronics donated to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or similar charities
Artwork, jewelry, collectibles, and antiques
Real estate and vehicles (vehicles have additional requirements — see below)
Stocks, mutual funds, and other securities donated directly to a charity
Food, books, and other inventory donated by a business

Cash and check donations do not require Form 8283, no matter the amount. They are reported directly on Schedule A.

Form 8283 is attached to Form 1040 (or 1040-SR for seniors, or 1040-NR for nonresident aliens) for the tax year in which the donation was made. The deadline is your regular return due date, including any extensions.

Section A vs Section B

The form is divided into two sections based on the value of what you donated.

	Section A	Section B
Value threshold	$5,000 or less per item / group	Over $5,000 per item / group
Qualified appraisal required?	No	Yes
Appraiser signature required?	No	Yes
Charity signature required?	Sometimes (certain property)	Yes — Part IV
Examples	Clothing bags, used furniture, electronics, books	Artwork, antiques, real estate, privately held stock

Section A: Items valued at $5,000 or less

Section A is the standard section for most everyday non-cash donations — donated clothing, household goods, electronics, and similar items that are valued individually or as a group at $5,000 or less.

You report the following for each line:

Description of the donated property
Date acquired and how you acquired it (purchase, gift, inheritance, etc.)
Date of the contribution
Your cost or adjusted basis
Fair market value at the time of donation
The method used to determine fair market value

No qualified appraisal is required. You determine the fair market value yourself using IRS-approved methods: comparable sales, thrift store pricing, condition-based guides, or values from IRS Publication 561.

Section B: Items valued over $5,000

Section B applies when a single item — or a group of similar items — has a combined fair market value exceeding $5,000. This section requires a qualified written appraisal and carries additional signature requirements.

Section B is typically required for:

Artwork, antiques, and collectibles over $5,000
Jewelry over $5,000
Real estate donated to a charity
Privately held company stock over $10,000 (special threshold applies)
Closely held business interests
Intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trademarks)

Publicly traded securities are exempt from the appraisal requirement even when their value exceeds $5,000. You still report them on Form 8283, but no appraisal is needed.

The qualified appraisal requirement

For any Section B donation, you must obtain a qualified appraisal from a qualified appraiser. This is one of the most misunderstood requirements — a casual estimate from a friend or an online price check does not satisfy it.

What makes an appraisal “qualified”

Under Treasury Regulation 1.170A-17, a qualified appraisal must:

Be conducted by a qualified appraiser — someone with verifiable education and experience in valuing the specific type of property
Be performed no earlier than 60 days before the donation and no later than the due date of your tax return (including extensions)
Be a formal written document describing the property in detail, the valuation method used, and the basis for the valuation
Include the appraiser’s credentials, Tax Identification Number, and signature on Section B of Form 8283
Be conducted at arm’s length — the appraiser cannot be you, the charity, the person who sold you the item, or anyone with a prohibited interest

One critical restriction: the appraiser’s fee cannot be based on a percentage of the appraised value or the amount of the allowable deduction. Percentage-based fees disqualify the appraisal entirely.

Appraisal timing

The 60-day-before / return-due-date window is strict. If you donate a painting on March 1, the appraisal must be dated between January 1 and October 15 (assuming an October 15 extension deadline). An appraisal dated December of the prior year does not qualify. See IRS Publication 561 for detailed guidance on valuing donated property.

How to group similar items

The grouping rule is important and often overlooked.

The IRS requires you to report each group of similar items on a single line of Form 8283 — not each individual item. “Similar items” means items of the same general category, such as:

All clothing donated during the year → one line
All books → one line
All electronics → one line
All furniture → one line
All artwork → one line

This grouping applies across all charities. If you donated clothing to Goodwill in January and to the Salvation Army in September, the combined fair market value goes on one clothing line.

Why grouping matters for the $5,000 threshold: The Section B threshold applies to each group, not each individual item. If your combined clothing donations have a fair market value of $6,000, that entire clothing group must be reported in Section B — with a qualified appraisal — even if no single item donated was worth more than $200.

For items valued under $500 each that contribute to your $500+ total, list them in Section A once the threshold is crossed. The IRS expects each group to be disclosed once the cumulative threshold is met.

Common mistakes

1. Missing the $500 threshold entirely. Many taxpayers forget Form 8283 because they think of their donations as small. Add up all your non-cash donations across all charities for the year — if the total exceeds $500, the form is required.

2. Overvaluing donated items. The IRS requires fair market value — what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller in the item’s current condition. A suit donated in good condition is not worth what you paid for it new. Using retail prices instead of realistic resale prices is the most common trigger for IRS scrutiny. See IRS Publication 526 for the FMV standard.

3. Not grouping similar items. Reporting each piece of clothing on a separate line instead of grouping them produces inflated line-item values that may incorrectly trigger the Section B appraisal requirement — or miss it when it actually applies.

4. Skipping the charity signature. For Section B donations, the donee organization must sign Part IV of Form 8283. Submitting the form without this signature can cause the deduction to be disallowed.

5. Getting the appraisal timing wrong. An appraisal conducted more than 60 days before the donation, or after the return due date, does not qualify. Plan ahead: arrange the appraisal close to the donation date but before the item is transferred.

6. Using a disqualified appraiser. The appraiser cannot be you, your employee, the donee organization, or anyone involved in the original sale. An independent, credentialed professional is required.

7. Inflated valuations and the penalty. If the claimed value of donated property exceeds the correct fair market value by 150% or more, the IRS can assess a 20% accuracy-related penalty on the tax underpayment. Misstatements of 200% or more trigger a 40% penalty.

How to file Form 8283

Step 1 — Determine if the form is required. Total all non-cash donations made during the year. If the combined fair market value exceeds $500, proceed.

Step 2 — Gather your records. For each donated item or group: written acknowledgment from the charity (required for gifts of $250+), item description and condition, date acquired, how acquired, and cost or adjusted basis. For Section B items, also gather your qualified appraisal.

Step 3 — Group similar items. Combine all clothing on one line, all furniture on another, and so on, with total fair market value for each group. Determine whether each group falls under Section A ($5,000 or less) or Section B (over $5,000).

Step 4 — Complete Section A. For each group, fill in the property description, dates, acquisition method, cost basis, fair market value, and valuation method.

Step 5 — Complete Section B (if applicable). For groups over $5,000, complete the detailed property description and attach the qualified appraisal. Have the qualified appraiser sign the Declaration of Appraiser in Section B. Obtain the donee organization’s signature in Part IV.

Step 6 — Attach to Form 1040. Attach the completed Form 8283 (and any appraisals) to your federal return and file by the deadline. Retain copies of all supporting documentation — particularly qualified appraisals — for at least three years after filing, or indefinitely if you carry forward a deduction.

Vehicle donations follow slightly different rules. If you donated a car, boat, or airplane worth more than $500, the charity provides a Form 1098-C showing the gross proceeds from the sale (or certifying an exempt use). You still complete Form 8283 Section A, but your deduction is typically capped at the gross proceeds rather than the FMV.

Track your non-cash donations automatically

Keeping accurate records for Form 8283 requires knowing what you donated, when, in what condition, and at what fair market value — for every item, all year long.

DeductAble is built for exactly this. The app lets you log non-cash donations by photo, assigns IRS-aligned fair market values based on item type and condition, and generates a Form 8283-ready itemized report at year-end. Whether you donate a few bags of clothing or a collection of art, everything is organized before you ever open TurboTax.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do I need to file IRS Form 8283?

You must file IRS Form 8283 when your total non-cash charitable donations for the tax year exceed $500. The $500 threshold applies to all non-cash gifts combined — it is not per-charity or per-item. Form 8283 is attached to your Form 1040 (or 1040-SR, 1040-NR) for the year in which the donations were made. If your non-cash donations are $500 or less, you still report them on Schedule A but do not need Form 8283.

What is the difference between Section A and Section B on Form 8283?

Section A covers non-cash donations where a single item or group of similar items has a fair market value of $5,000 or less. Section B is required when a single item or group of similar items is valued over $5,000 — and it triggers the qualified appraisal requirement. Section B also requires the appraiser to sign the form and the donee organization to sign Part IV acknowledging receipt of the property.

Do I need a qualified appraisal for Section A of Form 8283?

No — Section A does not require a qualified appraisal. Section A covers items valued at $5,000 or less, and you self-report the fair market value using your own research (such as comparable sales, thrift store pricing, or IRS Publication 561 guidelines). A qualified appraisal is only required for Section B, which covers items or groups of similar items valued over $5,000.

What counts as a qualified appraisal for Form 8283?

A qualified appraisal must be prepared by a qualified appraiser — a person with credentials and verifiable education or experience in valuing the type of property donated. The appraisal must be conducted no earlier than 60 days before the donation and no later than the due date of your tax return. The appraiser’s fee cannot be a percentage of the appraised value. The appraisal must meet IRS standards under Treasury Regulation 1.170A-17. See IRS Publication 561 for the full definition.

How do I group similar items on Form 8283?

The IRS requires you to group items of the same general category on a single line of Form 8283. All clothing donated during the year — regardless of which charity received it — goes on one line with the combined fair market value. Similarly, all furniture goes on one line, all electronics on another, and so on. The $5,000 Section B threshold applies to each group: if your combined clothing donations exceed $5,000, the entire clothing group must be reported in Section B with a qualified appraisal.

Does the charity need to sign Form 8283?

Yes, for Section B items the donee organization must sign Part IV of Section B to acknowledge that it received the donated property. For certain property reported in Section A, the charity may also need to sign Part II. The charity’s signature confirms receipt — it does not validate your claimed value. You are responsible for obtaining the charity’s signature before you file your return.

What happens if I do not file Form 8283 when required?

Failing to attach Form 8283 when your non-cash donations exceed $500 can result in the IRS disallowing your entire non-cash charitable deduction. Beyond that, if you overstate the value of donated property by 150% or more of the correct fair market value, the IRS can assess a 20% accuracy-related penalty on the resulting tax underpayment. Gross valuation misstatements of 200% or more carry a 40% penalty.

Are publicly traded securities subject to the Form 8283 appraisal requirement?

No — publicly traded securities are explicitly exempt from the qualified appraisal requirement even if their value exceeds $5,000. You still report publicly traded securities on Form 8283, but no appraisal is needed for shares listed on a recognized exchange. The fair market value is determined by the average of the high and low sale prices on the date of the contribution.

Additional IRS resources: