Since this is the season for giving it is interesting to see which taxpayers claim the most in charitable deductions. According to the latest IRS statistics, some 39 million taxpayers claimed nearly $173 billion in charitable deductions (both cash and non-cash) in 2008. Perhaps not surprisingly, 65 percent of the total amount of charitable deductions were claimed by taxpayers earning over $100,000. Indeed, the largest share of charitable contributions, 23 percent, were taken by taxpayers earning between $100,000 and $200,000 while another 14 percent was claimed by taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000. The third-largest amount of charitable deductions, $20.3 billion, was claimed by taxpayers earning over $10 million. Overall, taxpayers earning over $500,000 claimed nearly $49 billion in charitable deductions, 28 percent of the total. Returns Claiming Charitable Deduction Total Amount of Deductions Claimed (In Thousands) Percent of Deductions Claimed All returns, total 39,250,369 $172,936,002 100% Under $5,000 228,598 $154,850 0% $5,000 under $10,000 354,600 $480,688 0% $10,000 under $15,000 575,016 $917,550 1% $15,000 under $20,000 762,923 $1,498,354 1% $20,000 under $25,000 901,975 $1,835,152 1% $25,000 under $30,000 1,106,054 $2,287,265 1% $30,000 under $35,000 1,295,896 $2,741,766 2% $35,000 under $40,000 1,460,473 $3,120,398 2% $40,000 under $45,000 1,525,136 $3,422,544 2% $45,000 under $50,000 1,630,249 $3,742,047 2% $50,000 under $55,000 1,598,584 $3,754,021 2% $55,000 under $60,000 1,581,115 $3,979,522 2% $60,000 under $75,000 4,738,720 $12,171,732 7% $75,000 under $100,000 6,837,149 $19,887,014 11% $100,000 under $200,000 10,741,655 $40,606,459 23% $200,000 under $500,000 3,093,905 $23,663,870 14% $500,000 under $1,000,000 519,888 $9,539,392 6% $1,000,000 — $1,500,000 129,171 $4,198,700 2% $1,500,000 — $2,000,000 55,094 $2,661,827 2% $2,000,000 — $5,000,000 80,873 $7,298,207 4% $5,000,000 — $10,000,000 20,263 $4,688,144 3% $10,000,000 or more 13,031 $20,286,500 12% Source: IRS http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/08in21id.xls
