Donated $625 to a local charity but never received an official tax receipt - can I still claim it?

You're in a pretty common situation. For charitable donations under $250, you don't necessarily need an official receipt from the charity - bank records, credit card statements, or in your case, the PayPal confirmation can be sufficient documentation. However, since your donation is over $250, the IRS technically requires "contemporaneous written acknowledgment" from the charity itself. This needs to state whether you received any goods or services in exchange for your donation. That said, here's what I'd recommend: Keep trying to contact the charity for an official receipt. Sometimes smaller organizations are overwhelmed and slow to respond. Try calling instead of emailing, or reaching out through their social media if they have any. In the meantime, save that PayPal receipt! It's still valuable documentation of your donation. If you absolutely cannot get the official receipt by filing time, you have a few options: wait to file until you get it, file without claiming this deduction, or claim it with the PayPal receipt and be prepared to potentially justify it later.

I had a similar issue last year with getting documentation for a tax deduction, and I found using taxr.ai to be super helpful. I was stressing about whether my PayPal receipts would be sufficient for my charitable donations since I didn't have the "official" acknowledgments. I uploaded my PayPal confirmation emails to https://taxr.ai and got a clear analysis of what exactly the IRS requires for donations of different sizes. It saved me a ton of time researching tax codes and gave me specific guidance for my situation. The tool looked at my documentation and pointed out exactly what was missing compared to IRS requirements. Turns out for some of my smaller donations, the PayPal receipts were actually sufficient, but for larger ones like yours, they explained what additional documentation I needed to get from the charity.

I was really skeptical about using taxr.ai at first (see my comment above lol), but I actually tried it last weekend when I was organizing my tax documents. I uploaded all my charitable donation receipts, including some PayPal confirmations like yours. The analysis it gave me was genuinely helpful - it flagged my larger donations that needed additional documentation and actually generated template emails I could send to the charities to request proper receipts. I sent those out and already got responses from two organizations with the documentation I needed. For my smaller donations, it confirmed which PayPal receipts were sufficient on their own, which saved me from chasing down unnecessary paperwork. Definitely made the process more straightforward than when I tried to figure it out myself last year!

After spending 4 HOURS on hold with the IRS trying to get an answer about donation documentation requirements, I finally discovered Claimyr. It literally got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes! I know it sounds too good to be true but https://claimyr.com basically navigates the IRS phone system for you and calls you back when they've got an agent on the line. You can see how it works in this demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that for donations over $250, you really do need that acknowledgment letter from the charity that specifically states whether you received any goods or services. The PayPal receipt alone isn't enough according to the official rules, though they did mention that good-faith efforts to obtain documentation are considered if you're ever questioned about it.

I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After spending another frustrating afternoon getting disconnected from the IRS TWICE after waiting over an hour each time, I decided to try Claimyr out of pure desperation. It actually worked exactly as advertised. I entered my phone number, and about 25 minutes later (which is lightning fast for the IRS), I got a call connecting me directly to an IRS representative. Didn't have to deal with the phone menus or sit with my phone on speaker for hours. The agent I spoke with gave me detailed info about donation documentation requirements, which helped clarify my situation with some missing receipts. She explained that while they prefer the official acknowledgment letters, they do consider all available documentation if there's ever a question. Saved me a ton of stress trying to track down every last piece of paper!

Just a tip from someone who volunteered at a small nonprofit - definitely call rather than email if you haven't heard back. Small charities are often run by just a few people who are juggling everything, and emails can get buried fast. Most charities should be able to generate a receipt retroactively since they're required to keep donation records. If you call and explain the situation, they can usually email or mail you a proper receipt within a day or two. Also ask specifically for an "acknowledgment letter" that states whether you received any goods or services in exchange for your donation - that specific language is what the IRS looks for with donations over $250.

I work at an accounting firm and see this issue a lot. One thing nobody's mentioned yet - the IRS has been increasingly strict about documentation for charitable donations in recent years. If you get audited (which is still pretty rare for most people), they absolutely will ask for that acknowledgment letter for donations over $250. The PayPal receipt alone technically doesn't satisfy the requirement because it doesn't specify whether you received goods or services in exchange. My advice - if you absolutely can't get the proper documentation, and you decide to claim the deduction anyway with just the PayPal receipt, make sure you're at least keeping detailed records of your attempts to contact the charity. That shows good faith effort if there's ever a question.

That's great news that you were able to get through to the charity! It's always such a relief when these things work out. Staff changes definitely explain the delayed response - small nonprofits often struggle when they lose someone who was handling donor communications. For anyone else reading this thread who might be in a similar situation, this is a perfect example of why persistence pays off. Sometimes it really is just about timing and finding the right person to talk to. And having that proper acknowledgment letter will definitely give you peace of mind when filing - no worries about audit questions or having to justify your documentation later. Good luck with the rest of your tax prep!