How much documentation do I need to deduct donations of used goods like clothing and furniture on my Virginia return -- and if I don't have an appraisal, can I at least deduct part of it?

Plain-English summary

This couple deducted cash and noncash charitable contributions on their 2020–2022 Virginia returns. On audit the Department found the documentation insufficient for the noncash donations (and part of the 2022 cash gifts) and disallowed those amounts. On appeal, the Tax Commissioner largely upheld the assessments but allowed the specific items the couple had properly documented — adjusting 2020 and 2021, leaving 2022 as assessed.

Virginia follows the federal proof rules. Virginia's itemized deductions piggyback on the federal ones (§ 58.1-322.03), and Virginia conforms to the Internal Revenue Code (§ 58.1-301), so the IRS substantiation rules for donated property control. Those rules (Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13) set three tiers, each demanding more proof:

• Up to $500: a receipt from the charity with its name and address, the date and place, and a reasonably detailed description of the item.
• Over $500 up to $5,000: all of the above, plus a written record of how and approximately when you acquired the item and its cost basis, plus a completed Form 8283 attached to the return.
• Over $5,000: generally a qualified appraisal and an appraisal summary attached to the return.

"Similar items" are grouped to find the tier — this trips people up. You don't test each donation trip separately. All property of the same generic type donated during the year is treated as one property (IRC § 170(f)(11)(F); Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13(c)(7)(iii)) — all your clothing is one lump, all your furniture another, and so on (categories like clothing, jewelry, furniture, electronics, appliances, kitchenware). So three separate $2,000 furniture drop-offs total $6,000 of "furniture" and land in the over-$5,000 appraisal tier. Here the Department sorted the couple's gifts into categories — clothing, appliances, furniture, electronics, outdoor equipment, books, housewares, art, luggage, exercise equipment — and applied the tier that each category's yearly total hit.

No "step-down": miss the tier's proof and the whole category is gone. The couple's fallback argument was to at least allow a $5,000 deduction for items they valued over $5,000 but never had appraised. The Commissioner refused. If you fail the substantiation required for a threshold, the deduction is denied in full — it is not reduced to a lower tier you could have met (the ruling cites Mohamed v. Comm'r). Their furniture, clothing, housewares, and books each exceeded $5,000 every year with no appraisal, so those were entirely disallowed.

What did get allowed. The Department gave credit where the proof matched the tier: a 2021 luggage donation (under $500) with a sufficiently detailed receipt; lawn equipment donated in 2020 (over-$500 tier) that was both on a Form 8283 and backed by a charity receipt; and other over-$500 items properly listed on Forms 8283. Items in the over-$500 tier that were not documented on a Form 8283 were denied — including 2022 lawn equipment that had a form entry but no receipt. Net result: the 2020 and 2021 assessments were adjusted to allow the substantiated pieces; the 2022 assessment stood. The burden was on the couple to prove the assessment wrong (§ 58.1-205), and except for the documented items, they didn't.

(Virginia issued several noncash-substantiation determinations in this period; P.D. 25-113, for instance, similarly disallowed noncash gifts where a Form 8283 was filed without the required appraisals or detailed receipts. This one is the fuller walk-through of the three tiers and the no-step-down rule.)

What this means for you

Anyone deducting donations of used goods (clothes, furniture, electronics)

Bagging up household items for a charity and writing down a value is the easy part; the deduction lives or dies on matching documentation to the dollar tier, and the tiers are set by your yearly total per category, not per trip. Before you claim it, add up each category for the whole year. If any category tops $5,000, you almost certainly need a qualified appraisal — and without it, that entire category is not deductible, not even down to $5,000. For categories over $500, keep the receipt and a note of when/how you got the items and what they cost, and file Form 8283.

The "I'll just claim $5,000" myth

You cannot value something at $8,000, skip the appraisal, and settle for a $5,000 deduction. The rules don't "step down" — miss the tier and you lose the whole thing. Get the appraisal before you file, or don't claim above the threshold.

Tax preparers

Screen noncash charitable deductions by aggregating similar items across the year (IRC § 170(f)(11)(F)) and confirm the paperwork for the aggregate tier: receipt (≤$500); receipt + acquisition/basis record + Form 8283 (>$500–$5,000); qualified appraisal + summary (>$5,000). Warn clients there is no partial credit for an unsubstantiated tier (Mohamed). Remember this is Virginia riding on the federal rules via § 58.1-322.03 / § 58.1-301, and the Department can pull the federal return and records under § 58.1-310, with its assessment presumed correct under § 58.1-205.

Common questions

Q: I donated bags of used clothes and some furniture. What records do I need for Virginia?
A: Virginia uses the federal tiers. Total each category for the year: up to $500 needs a detailed charity receipt; over $500 to $5,000 also needs an acquisition/cost record and a Form 8283; over $5,000 generally needs a qualified appraisal. If your clothing (or furniture) for the year totals over $5,000, that category needs an appraisal.

Q: Do I look at each donation separately or add them up?
A: Add up all similar items for the year — "property of the same generic category" like clothing, furniture, or electronics is treated as one property (IRC § 170(f)(11)(F)). Several small furniture drop-offs can combine into the over-$5,000 appraisal tier.

Q: I valued my donation over $5,000 but never got an appraisal. Can I at least deduct $5,000?
A: No. Missing the required substantiation for a tier means the deduction is denied in full — it is not reduced to a lower tier. The Commissioner rejected exactly that request in this ruling.

Q: I filed Form 8283. Isn't that enough?
A: Not always. Form 8283 is required in the over-$500 tier, but it doesn't replace the other proof — you still need the underlying receipts/records, and for over $5,000 you generally need a qualified appraisal. Here, some items on the couple's Forms 8283 were still denied for lack of the required backup.

Q: Does this apply to cash gifts too?
A: Cash contributions have their own rules (bank records or a written acknowledgment; over $250 needs a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity). This ruling was mainly about noncash property; the couple didn't contest the cash adjustment.

Citations and references

Statutes and regulations:

• Va. Code § 58.1-1821 — application to the Tax Commissioner to correct an assessment
• Va. Code § 58.1-301 — Virginia conforms to the Internal Revenue Code (starts from FAGI)
• Va. Code § 58.1-219, § 58.1-310 — the Department may adjust IRC-inconsistent itemized deductions and require the federal return and records
• Va. Code § 58.1-322.03 — Virginia itemized deductions, tied to the federal itemized deductions
• Va. Code § 58.1-205 — a Department assessment is prima facie correct; burden of proof on the taxpayer
• IRC § 170(f)(11)(F) — similar items donated during the year are treated as one property for the thresholds
• Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13 — three-tier substantiation for gifts of property (≤$500; >$500–$5,000; >$5,000), including the receipt, acquisition/basis record, Form 8283, and qualified-appraisal requirements
• Treas. Reg. § 1.6001-1(a) — taxpayers must keep records sufficient to determine their correct tax liability

Authorities the Commissioner relied on (described here, not linked): Mohamed v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo 2012-152 (no step-down; an unsubstantiated tier is denied in full); Kunkel v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo 2015-71, and Bass v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo 2023-41 (aggregating similar items); and prior Department public documents P.D. 19-78 and P.D. 23-24 on charitable-contribution substantiation.

Source

• Landing page: Virginia Laws, Rules & Decisions
• Ruling: P.D. 25-101

Original ruling text

June 30, 2025

Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Individual Income Tax

Dear *:

This will reply to your letter in which you seek correction of the individual income tax assessments issued to * (the “Taxpayers”) for the taxable years ended December 31, 2020, through 2022.

FACTS

The Taxpayers filed Virginia resident income tax returns for the taxable years at issue, claiming cash and noncash charitable contributions as itemized deductions reportable on federal Schedules A. Under audit, the Department requested documentation to support the deductions. The Taxpayers submitted some documentation, but the auditor determined that it was insufficient to support the claimed deductions for noncash contributions and a portion of the cash contributions claimed for the 2022 taxable year. The Department, accordingly, disallowed the unsubstantiated deductions and issued assessments.

The Taxpayers submitted an application for correction, contending they provided sufficient documentation. Alternatively, the Taxpayers assert that the Department should allow a reduced deduction of $5,000 for donations they valued at more than $5,000 but did not obtain the required qualified appraisal. The Taxpayers do not contest the cash contribution adjustment.

DETERMINATION

Conformity

Virginia Code § 58.1-301 provides, with certain exceptions, that terminology and references used in Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia will have the same meaning as provided in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), unless a different meaning is clearly required. Conformity does not extend to terms, concepts, or principles not specifically provided in the Code of Virginia . For individual income tax purposes, Virginia conforms to federal law, in that it starts the computation of Virginia taxable income with federal adjusted gross income (FAGI). Income properly included in the FAGI of a Virginia resident is subject to taxation by Virginia, unless it is specifically exempt as a Virginia modification pursuant to Chapter 3 of Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia .

Generally, the Department relies on the accuracy of information and computations reflected on the federal income tax return when reviewing Virginia individual income tax returns. If the information provided on the federal return appears reasonable, then, typically, the Department does not look behind those computations. The Department, however, may examine and adjust the FAGI and itemized deductions where there is clear evidence that the amounts reported on the federal or Virginia income tax return are inconsistent with the IRC. See Virginia Code § 58.1-219 and § 58.1-310.

Itemized Deductions

Virginia Code § 58.1-322.03 1 allows taxpayers to deduct from their Virginia adjusted gross income certain amounts allowed for itemized deductions for federal income tax purposes. These deductions include those for real estate taxes, home mortgage interest, personal property taxes, medical expenses, and charitable contributions provided they are claimed in accordance with the IRC and its related regulations.

The Department requested that the Taxpayers provide documentation supporting the charitable contribution deductions claimed on their Schedules A for the 2020 through 2022 taxable years. The request indicated the specific documentation required to substantiate the deductions. Deductions for charitable contributions are allowable only when they can be substantiated through items such as receipts or cancelled checks. See Public Document (P.D.) 19-78 (7/29/2019) and P.D. 23-24 (3/1/2023). Any contribution over $250 must also have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the donee indicating whether any goods or services were provided by the donee in connection with the contribution, and if so, what the value of those goods or services were. See Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13(f)(2).

Under IRS regulations, the substantiation requirements for gifts of property other than money vary depending on the amount of the deduction claimed. The regulations set up three tiers of deductions, for amounts up to and including $500, greater than $500 but less than $5,000, and greater than $5,000, and require greater substantiation for each tier. See Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13. For purposes of determining the applicable threshold values, property and all similar items of property donated to one or more donees during the year are treated as one property. See IRC § 170(f)(11)(F). See also Kunkel v. Comm’r, T.C . Memo 2015-71, and Bass v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo 2023-41.

“Similar items of property” is defined as “property of the same generic category or type, such as clothing, jewelry, furniture, electronic equipment, household appliances, or kitchenware.” See Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13(c)(7)(iii). For example, if a taxpayer made three separate donations of furniture valued at $2,000 each, the rules applicable to donations greater than $5,000 would apply because the total value of furniture donated during the year exceeded $5,000. In this case, using the information provided by the Taxpayer during the audit and additional information the Taxpayers provided on appeal, the audit staff separated the Taxpayers’ contributions into categories for clothing, household appliances, furniture, electronics, outdoor furniture and equipment, books, housewares, art, luggage, and exercise equipment.

In addition, if a taxpayer fails to meet the substantiation requirement for a particular threshold, no deduction is allowed. The deduction is not reduced to a lower threshold for which the taxpayer may have sufficient documentation. See, e.g. , Mohamed v. Comm’r , T.C. Memo 2012-152. For example, if the taxpayer in the previous example did not have an appraisal to support the furniture deduction, the entire deduction would be disallowed. It would not be reduced to the lower tier threshold of $5,000 or $500, even if the taxpayer was able to meet the substantiation requirements of the lower deduction tiers.

Gifts of Property Valued at $500 and Under

Under Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13(b)(1), for items valued below $500, a taxpayer need only have a receipt from the donee containing the name and address of the donee, the date and place of the contribution, and a reasonably detailed description of the property donated.

For the 2021 taxable year, the Taxpayers’ luggage donation required this level of substantiation. The Taxpayers provided a sufficiently detailed receipt and the Department will allow the deduction for luggage donated in 2021.

Gifts of Property Valued Over $500

Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13(b)(3) provides that in addition to the receipt required by Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13(b)(1), the donation of noncash property with a value between $500 and $5,000 necessitates a written record of the manner and approximate date of acquisition and the cost basis. In addition, taxpayers must complete and attach one or more federal Forms 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, to their federal income tax return for each taxable year in which they make a noncash charitable contribution in excess of $500.

For each of the taxable years at issue, the Taxpayers’ exercise equipment and artwork donations required this level of substantiation. In addition, the Taxpayers’ lawn equipment donations in 2020 and 2021 as well as children’s toy donations in 2021 required this level of substantiation. The Taxpayers submitted federal Forms 8283 for each of the taxable years at issue. The donations of lawn equipment were documented on the 2020 and 2022 Forms 8283. In addition, the Taxpayers provided a receipt from the charitable organization for lawn equipment donated in 2020 but not for the 2022 donation. As such, the Department will allow a deduction for the lawn equipment donated in 2020 but not for the 2022 donation. The deductions for the remaining donations in this category were properly denied because they were not documented on the Forms 8283.

Gifts of Property Valued Over $5,00 0

Under Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-13(c)(2), if a taxpayer claims a deduction for property valued in excess of $5,000, the taxpayer generally must obtain a qualified appraisal and attach an appraisal summary to their return.

In each of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 taxable years, the Taxpayers contributed furniture, clothing, housewares, and books valued over $5,000. However, the Taxpayers did not submit any qualified appraisals or appraisal summaries with their returns. Accordingly, the deductions claimed for contributions of these items of property were properly denied.

CONCLUSION

Taxpayers must maintain records sufficient to allow the IRS to determine their correct tax liability. See Treas. Reg. § 1.6001-1(a). Similarly, Virginia Code § 58.1-310 provides:

Whenever in the opinion of the Department it is necessary to examine the federal income returns or any copy thereof of any individual, estate, trust, partnership, or corporation in order properly to audit such returns, the Department or the commissioner shall have the right to require such taxpayer to provide such return or a copy thereof and all statements, inventories, and schedules in support thereof.

Under the provisions of Virginia Code § 58.1-205, in any proceeding relating to the interpretation of the tax laws of Virginia, an “assessment of a tax by the Department shall be deemed prima facie correct.” As such, the burden of proof is on the Taxpayers to show that the assessment was erroneous. In this case, with the exception of certain deductions claimed in 2020 and 2021, the Taxpayers did not provide sufficient substantiation to support the deductions claimed for noncash charitable contributions. In addition, the Taxpayers’ alternative request for reduced deductions cannot be granted because deductions that are not substantiated based on the requirements of the applicable threshold are denied in full, not reduced to the threshold for which there was adequate substantiation.

The assessments for the 2020 and 2021 taxable years will be adjusted to allow the substantiated deductions in accordance with the attached schedule. There is no basis, however, to adjust the Department’s assessments for the 2022 taxable year. The Taxpayers will receive updated bills that will include accrued interest to date. The Taxpayers should remit the balances due within 30 days of the bill dates to avoid the accrual of additional interest and possible collection actions.

The Code of Virginia sections cited are available online at law.lis.virginia.gov. The public documents cited are available at tax.virginia.gov in the Laws, Rules, & Decisions section of the Department’s website. If you have any questions regarding this decision, you may contact * in the Office of Tax Policy and Legal Affairs, Tax Adjudication and Resolution, at or **.

Sincerely,

James J. Alex

Tax Commissioner

Commonwealth of Virginia

AR/4897.Q

Related Documents

19-78

23-24