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Just a reminder, all those little charitable contributions that we make in 2026, outside of Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD), are deductible as an above the line tax deduction. The maximum deduction is $1000 single, $2000 married filing joint, and you need to save your receipts.
Just to be clear, this isn’t for our 2025 tax returns. This is for tax year 2026.
My understanding is that this non-itemizer charity deduction really functions as a “below the line” (does not affect AGI) deduction. AI seems to affirm that understanding… “However, this new deduction is somewhat unusual: it is widely described as “above the line”, but under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act it does not reduce AGI itself; it reduces taxable income after AGI is calculated, functioning like a universal charitable deduction layered on top of the standard deduction.
So in practice for 2026:
So, if a person is paying 20% in taxes and donates $1,000 as a non itemizer, do they keep $200 more in their pocket?
If the marginal rate is 20%.
Yes.
This is a welcome change. Looking forward to it.
Thanks, Dan. This will impact us. And, thanks, Bill, for the Kiplinger article link. Chris
Thanks for the reminder Dan. When you say above the line do you mean a direct reduction in taxes owed.
Above the line is just a reduction in Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), without having to itemize deductions.
Kiplinger has a public December 2025 informative article about the 2026 charitable deductions rules changes that may impact both non-itemizers and itemizers titled 3 Major Changes to the Charitable Deduction for 2026
Thanks, Bill