How do I claim and report deductible charitable donations?

If you are going to claim charitable contributions on your federal income tax returns, you have to itemize your deductions and use Form 1040 (so you cannot use Form 1040A or Form 1040EZ). Once you have figured out your contributions, you can use Schedule A to calculate precisely what your deduction is. In addition, if you have donated property which has a total value of more than $500 (even if each individual property donation is less than $500), or if you are claiming a single contribution of more than $5,000, you must also fill out IRS Form 8283 and include it with your federal tax return.