How to Lower Your Tax Bill With the Charitable-Donation Deduction

Are fewer taxpayers deducting charitable contributions than in the past?

Yes. The 2017 tax overhaul dramatically reduced the number of filers deducting charitable donations. While it didn’t limit them outright, it expanded the standard deduction so that far fewer taxpayers itemize these deductions on Schedule A.

The number of taxpayers itemizing charitable donations dropped to about 12 million in 2021 from about 37 million in 2017, according to the most recent data from the Internal Revenue Service. During the pandemic, Congress temporarily expanded tax deductions for very large and very small charitable donations, but these changes expired at the end of 2021.