How do Carry forward Charitable Donations work with my 2022 donations?

I donated a good chunk of money to my local food bank and a few other charities back in 2022, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't able to deduct all of it when I filed. I itemized that year because my donations + mortgage interest were way over the standard deduction, but I think I hit some kind of limit with the charitable part. Now I'm working on my taxes for this year and wondering how these carry forward charitable donations actually work? I've been googling around and can't find any clear examples that make sense to me. If I couldn't deduct all my charitable donations from 2022, which tax year am I supposed to use them in? Is there a specific form I need to fill out? Do they expire if I don't use them within a certain timeframe? Really confused about the whole process and could use some guidance from anyone who's dealt with this before.

0 coins

20 comments

Natasha Petrova

•8M

Charitable donation carryforwards can be confusing! What happened is that you likely hit the AGI limitation for charitable contributions. For most cash donations to public charities, you can deduct up to 60% of your adjusted gross income. Donations to certain private foundations, veterans organizations, fraternal societies, and cemetery organizations have lower AGI limits (usually 30%). When you hit that limit, the excess contributions automatically get carried forward for up to 5 years. So your 2022 excess contributions can be used on your tax returns for 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027. If you don't use them by 2027, you lose them. You'll claim these on Schedule A (Itemized Deductions) in subsequent years, and you'll need to have records showing the carryover amount. The key thing to remember is that you'll use current year donations first, then apply carryover amounts. And you still need to itemize in those future years to benefit from the carryover.

0 coins

Natasha Petrova

•8M

Yes, you must itemize deductions in the carryover years to claim the carryover charitable contributions. If your total itemized deductions for a particular year are less than the standard deduction, then taking the standard deduction makes more financial sense, but you would not be able to use the charitable contribution carryover in that year. You don't permanently lose the carryover amounts if you take the standard deduction in one of the 5 carryover years. You just can't use them in that particular year. You can still use them in future years (within the 5-year window) when you itemize again.

0 coins

Emma Davis

•8M

I had the exact same issue last year with a big donation I made to my university's scholarship fund. After hours trying to figure it out myself, I ended up using https://taxr.ai to analyze my previous returns and calculate the exact carryover amount. You just upload your 2022 return and it shows you exactly how much charitable donation you have leftover that can be applied to future years. The tool breaks it down really clearly and showed me which forms to use for claiming the carryforward.

0 coins

Emma Davis

•8M

It works with returns from any tax preparation software since it just needs the PDF of your completed return. You just upload the finalized tax return PDF from 2022 regardless of what software generated it. As for how it helps, it does both - it calculates your exact carryover amount AND provides specific guidance for entering it correctly on your current year's return. It actually showed me where I made a mistake in tracking my carryover amount and saved me from potentially making a really expensive error. It even generates documentation you can keep with your tax records to support the carryover claim.

0 coins

Malik Robinson

•8M

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai - I decided to give it a try after asking about it here. I was really surprised at how helpful it was! Uploaded my 2022 return and it immediately showed me that I had $3,120 in charitable contributions that could be carried forward. It even explained that I hit the 60% AGI limit for cash donations, which I had no idea about before. The step-by-step instructions for claiming the carryover on this year's return were super clear. I'm usually pretty confused by tax stuff, but this actually made sense. Definitely helped me feel more confident that I'm doing it right instead of just guessing.

0 coins

Isabella Silva

•8M

If you're having trouble getting clear answers about your charitable donation carryover, you might need to speak directly with an IRS representative. I was in the same situation last year and spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS. After dozens of attempts and hours on hold, I found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent walked me through exactly how my carryover worked and explained which forms to fill out. It was honestly worth it just to have someone from the IRS confirm I was doing it right and not risking an audit.

0 coins

Isabella Silva

•8M

It uses a system that continuously redials the IRS for you using their proprietary technology, then calls you once it gets through to a human agent. It's basically doing the waiting and redialing for you instead of you having to do it yourself. They don't jump any official queues - they're just automating the frustrating redial process. The service actually does work. I was skeptical at first too, but after spending nearly two weeks trying to get through on my own with no success, I was desperate enough to try it. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes after activating the service.

0 coins

Freya Andersen

•8M

I have to admit I was TOTALLY wrong about Claimyr. After seeing it mentioned here, I was sure it was some kind of scam, but I was completely stuck trying to figure out my charitable donation carryover situation and couldn't get through to the IRS after trying for days. Decided to give it a shot out of desperation and it actually worked exactly as described. Got through to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes who confirmed my carryover amount and explained that I needed to track it year by year on my own records. The agent also told me about Form 8283 which I needed for my non-cash donations. Saved me hours of frustration and possibly making costly mistakes on my return.

0 coins

CosmicCadet

•8M

Bunching absolutely works with carryforwards! That's what I do. Donate enough in one year to itemize, then take standard deduction the next. The key is making sure your total itemized deductions (including the bunched donations) exceed the standard deduction by enough to make it worthwhile. Remember though that the carryforward only helps if you itemize in future years too. So if bunching means you'll take standard deduction for the next 5 years, you might not benefit from the carryforward at all.

0 coins

Diego Mendoza

•8M

TurboTax actually does track carryovers if you use it consistently year to year. When you enter charitable contributions, there should be a section asking about carryovers from previous years. The problem is if you switch tax software or don't transfer last year's info correctly, you'll have to manually enter the carryover amount. I learned this the hard way when I switched from H&R Block to TurboTax and almost forgot about $2,000 in carryover donations. Now I keep a separate spreadsheet tracking all my carryovers by year so I don't rely on the software.

0 coins

LordCommander

•9d

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that you need to keep really good records of your carryforward amounts. The IRS doesn't track this for you - it's entirely on you to calculate and document the carryover each year. I recommend creating a simple table showing: (1) your original excess contribution from 2022, (2) how much you've used in each subsequent year, and (3) how much remains available. This becomes especially important if you have carryovers from multiple years overlapping. Also, make sure you understand the order of deduction - you always deduct current year contributions first, then apply carryovers from the oldest year forward. So if you have carryovers from both 2022 and 2023, you'd use the 2022 carryover before touching the 2023 carryover.

0 coins