Use each item's fair market value: the price a willing buyer would pay a willing seller (IRS Publication 561). For used clothing and household goods, that is usually what a thrift store would charge for the same item in the same condition. List each item, decide whether it is in good or excellent condition, look up its range, and add the values. The calculator above does the adding, using the ranges from our category value guides.
Goodwill does not value your donation: its receipt leaves the value for you to fill in. This calculator works for Goodwill donations: add what you dropped off and it totals the fair market value. For example, a bag with four T-shirts, two pairs of jeans, two sweaters, a dress shirt and a pair of casual shoes comes to about $37 in good condition and $124 in excellent condition. Our Goodwill donation value guide and Salvation Army donation value guide list the same ranges by category.
Used clothing and household items must be in good used condition or better to be deductible. The one exception is a single item worth more than $500 that you claim with a qualified appraisal attached to your return. Stained, broken or non-working items generally cannot be deducted.
For any single donation of $250 or more, you need a written acknowledgment from the charity by the time you file your return (IRS Publication 526). Below $250, get a receipt from the charity showing its name, the date and a description of what you gave; if that is not practical, such as at an unattended drop box, keep your own reliable written record. Goodwill and Salvation Army receipts leave the value blank, so keep your own itemized list with the values. More in our donation receipt requirements guide.
When your noncash donations for the year total more than $500, file Form 8283 with your return. Section A covers most household donations. A group of similar items claimed at more than $5,000 goes in Section B and needs a qualified appraisal. See our Form 8283 instructions.
A donation deduction lowers your taxable income, not your tax bill dollar for dollar. Roughly, the saving is the deduction times your top federal tax bracket: $500 of donated goods saves about $110 in the 22% bracket. You get it only if you itemize and your itemized deductions beat the standard deduction, and in 2026 only donations above 0.5% of your AGI count. The 2026 deduction for people who do not itemize covers cash gifts only, not donated goods. Our itemize vs. standard deduction calculator checks whether itemizing pays off.
No. The deduction is what an item is worth now, not what you paid for it. A sweater you bought new and wore for a couple of years is worth about what a thrift store would charge for it: $5 to $15 in our clothing donation value guide.