Give to the Ocean. Keep More of What You Earn.

Yes, when the organization is a 501(c)(3) public charity. My Clean Ocean is one (EIN 41-4167030, public charity under section 509(a)(2)), so gifts of cash, stock, IRA distributions, boats and equipment are deductible to the extent the law allows. Check any charity's status in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search before you give.

Starting with 2026 returns, yes. Taxpayers who take the standard deduction can deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to public charities ($2,000 on a joint return) on top of the standard deduction. It covers cash, check and card gifts made directly to the charity, not gifts to donor-advised funds, and the amount is not indexed for inflation.

Two things. Only the part of your charitable giving above 0.5% of your adjusted gross income is deductible (with $200,000 of AGI, the first $1,000 of gifts does not count), and for the top 37% bracket the benefit of itemized deductions is capped at 35 cents per dollar. The 60%-of-AGI ceiling for cash gifts to public charities was made permanent, and anything above it carries forward up to five years.

Often, if you itemize. Give shares you have held more than one year and you deduct their full market value while never paying capital gains tax on the growth. In California, where capital gains are taxed as ordinary income, that avoided tax is large. Gifts of appreciated stock to public charities are deductible up to 30% of AGI. Shares that have lost value are better sold first: you take the loss, then give the cash.

If you are 70½ or older you can have your IRA custodian send up to $111,000 in 2026 directly to a charity. The distribution is excluded from your taxable income, counts toward your required minimum distribution once you are 73, and works whether or not you itemize. You do not also deduct it. Ask the custodian to make the check payable to My Clean Ocean, EIN 41-4167030, and to tell us it is a QCD so we acknowledge it correctly.

For any cash gift, a bank or card record or a written receipt from the charity. For a single gift of $250 or more, the IRS requires a written acknowledgment from the charity stating the amount and whether you received anything in return, and you need it by the time you file. My Clean Ocean emails an acknowledgment and a PDF receipt for every gift the moment it clears.

No. You deduct what you give; the match is the matcher's own gift. What the match doubles is the impact: through December 1, Javier matches every gift to My Clean Ocean dollar for dollar, so $100 puts two kids on the boat instead of one. Employer matching works the same way.

A donated boat is deductible, and the IRS rules (Publication 4303) depend on what the charity does with it: if it is sold you deduct the gross sale price reported on Form 1098-C; if it goes into the charity's program you may deduct fair market value. Claims over $500 need Form 8283, and a fair-market-value claim over $5,000 needs a qualified appraisal. Our Donate a Boat page covers pickup and paperwork.

California sets its own rules. The Franchise Tax Board says California does not adopt the new federal $1,000/$2,000 deduction for non-itemizers, the 0.5% floor, or the 35% limit. On your California return the charitable deduction comes through itemizing, and California lets you itemize on Form 540 even if you take the standard deduction on your federal return, which is common because California's standard deduction is small.

By December 31. A card gift counts on the day it is charged, a mailed check on the day it is postmarked, and stock on the day it lands in the charity's account, so start stock transfers and QCDs a few weeks before year end.

Yes. Each monthly gift is its own deductible contribution, and each one gets its own receipt. For tax purposes your total for the year is the sum of the monthly charges.

No. This page explains the general rules as of 2026 so you can have a better conversation with your tax preparer, who knows your full return. Dollar limits change; we review this page every January.