When is Form 8283 required to be filed for a charitable contribution? by Karla Hopkins

Form 8283, Non cash Charitable Contributions, must be filed with an individual’s income tax return to substantiate non cash charitable contributions. The instructions for the form say that you must attach the form to the return for the year in which you contribute the property and first claim the deduction.

But what if you make a non cash contribution and elect to utilize the standard deduction instead of itemizing? Is the form still required that year if the deduction was limited by adjusted income limits before making the standard deduction election?

In that case, the non cash charitable contribution would technically be eligible to be carried over to the following year.

How do you substantiate the non cash charitable contribution deduction?

The best practice in the case where the non cash charitable contribution deduction is limited and the taxpayer elects to utilize the standard deduction instead of itemizing is to attach the required Form 8283 in the year of making the non cash contribution even though the form is not required that year due to the standard deduction election.