What documentation does the IRS accept as proof of charitable cash donations under $250 in 2025?
Executive summary
For cash donations under $250 the IRS requires either a bank record (canceled check, bank or credit card statement, or electronic payment record) or a written communication from the charity that shows the organization’s name, the date and the amount of the contribution to substantiate a deduction [1] [2]. Contributions of $250 or more have a stricter rule: a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity containing specific details is mandatory, so gifts under that threshold avoid the acknowledgment requirement if properly documented [1] [2].
1. What the statute actually accepts: bank records or written communications
For any cash gift under $250 the IRS accepts a “bank record” such as a canceled check, credit card statement or an electronic funds-transfer record, or a written communication from the donee charity that shows the charity’s name, the date of the contribution, and the amount — those are the two paths to substantiation spelled out in IRS guidance and Topic 506 [1] [2].
2. Why $250 is the bright line and what “contemporaneous” means for larger gifts
The $250 threshold is the statutory cutoff: a donor who gives $250 or more must have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity that meets detailed content tests, whereas a smaller cash gift is substantiated by the simpler bank record or written communication requirement; the contemporaneous rule generally means the acknowledgment must be obtained by the earlier of filing the original return or the return’s extended due date [2] [3].
3. Practical forms of acceptable proof in the digital age
Electronic receipts, PayPal or Venmo transaction records, scanned canceled checks and credit-card or bank statements count as bank records if they show the required name, date and amount, and the IRS permits accurate, accessible electronic recordkeeping when records can be produced during an audit — guidance which professional tax sources and IRS materials affirm as acceptable if the records meet the substance tests [4] [5].
4. When multiple small gifts can trigger the stricter rule
Tax guidance warns that a series of related contributions to the same organization made to avoid substantiation rules can be aggregated; if smaller gifts are effectively parts of a single larger contribution the IRS may treat them as $250 or more and require the contemporaneous written acknowledgment that applies to that higher amount [3].
5. Record retention and conservative practices advised by advisors
Although the basic rule for under-$250 gifts is a bank record or written communication, tax professionals commonly advise keeping those records for several years because the IRS has audit windows and Publication 526 and related pages recommend maintaining documentation; some sources suggest keeping records for at least three years and retaining acknowledgments or receipts when possible to avoid disputes [5] [6].
6. Caveats, differing emphases and where reporting can overstate certainty
Official IRS pages and Publication 526 set the rules in black-and-white terms about acceptable records, but secondary articles and commercial tax-advice pages sometimes conflate best practices with legal minimums or emphasize services that obtain acknowledgments for donors — readers should separate the statute and IRS guidance (bank records or written communications for < $250) from advisory recommendations to always obtain an acknowledgment even when not legally required [6] [4].