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2. You have no other deductible in- vestment expenses. 3. You have no disallowed invest- ment interest expense from 2018. Alaska Permanent Fund divi- dends, including those reported on Form 8814, aren't invest- ment income. For more details, see Pub. 550. Gifts to Charity You can deduct contributions or gifts you gave to organizations that are reli- gious, charitable, educational, scientific, or literary in purpose. You can also de- duct what you gave to organizations that work to prevent cruelty to children or animals. Certain whaling captains may be able to deduct expenses paid in 2019 for Native Alaskan subsistence bowhead whale hunting activities. See Pub. 526 for details. To verify an organization's charitable status, you can: • Check with the organization to which you made the donation. The or- ganization should be able to provide you with verification of its charitable status. • Use our online search tool at IRS.gov/TEOS to see if an organization is eligible to receive tax-deductible con- tributions (Publication 78 data). Examples of Qualified Charitable Organizations The following list gives some examples of qualified organizations. See Pub. 526 for more examples. • Churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other religious organiza- tions. • Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, CARE, Girl Scouts, Good- will Industries, Red Cross, Salvation Ar- my, and United Way. • Fraternal orders, if the gifts will be used for the purposes listed under Gifts to Charity, earlier. • Veterans' and certain cultural groups. • Nonprofit hospitals and medical research organizations. • Most nonprofit educational organi- zations, such as colleges, but only if your contribution isn't a substitute for tuition or other enrollment fees. CAUTION ! • Federal, state, and local govern- ments if the gifts are solely for public purposes. Amounts You Can Deduct Contributions can be in cash, property, or out-of-pocket expenses you paid to do volunteer work for the kinds of organi- zations described earlier. If you drove to and from the volunteer work, you can take the actual cost of gas and oil or 14 cents a mile. Add parking and tolls to the amount you claim under either meth- od. But don't deduct any amounts that were repaid to you. Gifts from which you benefit. If you made a gift and received a benefit in re- turn, such as food, entertainment, or merchandise, you can generally only de- duct the amount that is more than the value of the benefit. But this rule doesn't apply to certain membership benefits provided in return for an annual pay- ment of $75 or less or to certain items or benefits of token value. For details, see Pub. 526. Example. You paid $70 to a charita- ble organization to attend a fund-raising dinner and the value of the dinner was $40. You can deduct only $30. Gifts of $250 or more. You can deduct a gift of $250 or more only if you have a statement from the charitable organiza- tion showing the information in (1) and (2) next. 1. The amount of any money con- tributed and a description (but not value) of any property donated. 2. Whether the organization did or didn’t give you any goods or services in return for your contribution. If you did receive any goods or services, a descrip- tion and estimate of the value must be included. If you received only intangible religious benefits (such as admission to a religious ceremony), the organization must state this, but it doesn't have to de- scribe or value the benefit. In figuring whether a gift is $250 or more, don't combine separate donations. For example, if you gave your church $25 each week for a total of $1,300, treat each $25 payment as a separate gift. If you made donations through pay- roll deductions, treat each deduction from each paycheck as a separate gift. See Pub. 526 if you made a separate gift of $250 or more through payroll deduc- tion. You must get the statement by the date you file your return or the due date (including exten- sions) for filing your return, whichever is earlier. Don't attach the statement to your return. Instead, keep it for your re- cords. Limit on the amount you can deduct. See Pub. 526 to figure the amount of your deduction if any of the following applies. 1. Your cash contributions or contri- butions of ordinary income property are more than 30% of the amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 8b. 2. Your gifts of capital gain property are more than 20% of the amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 8b. 3. You gave gifts of property that increased in value or gave gifts of the use of property. Amounts You Can't Deduct • Certain contributions to charitable organizations, to the extent that you re- ceive a state or local tax credit in return for your contribution. See Pub. 526 for more details and exceptions. See Safe harbor for certain charitable contributions made in exchange for a state or local tax credit, earlier under Line 5, if your cash contribution is disallowed because you received or expected to receive a credit. • An amount paid to or for the bene- fit of a college or university in exchange for the right to purchase tickets to an athletic event in the college or universi- ty's stadium. • Travel expenses (including meals and lodging) while away from home performing donated services, unless there was no significant element of per- sonal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel. • Political contributions. • Dues, fees, or bills paid to country clubs, lodges, fraternal orders, or similar groups. • Cost of raffle, bingo, or lottery tickets. But you may be able to deduct these expenses on line 16. See Line 16, later, for more information on gambling losses. TIP TIP A-11