A quiet tool

Same gifts, same charities. One year itemizes.

Give two or three years of gifts at once, through a donor-advised fund, and that year clears the standard deduction while the others take it anyway. Enter your income, your taxes, and your giving, and see what the pattern saves.

The 2026 itemizing rules · Last reviewed September 6, 2026 · Facts · The table · Methodology

https://consideratecapital.com/tools/charitable-bunching-calculator

Your income each year, before deductions

Adjusted gross income, which is line 11 of your Form 1040. The tool uses the same figure every year.

Cash gifts to charity each year

What you normally give in a year, by cash, check, or card.

Years of gifts to give at once

Given in one year to a donor-advised fund, a charitable account you deduct when you fund it and that pays your charities on your usual schedule.

State and local taxes paid each year

Property tax and state income tax together. At this income the law lets you deduct up to $40,400 of them.

Mortgage interest paid each year

Filing status

Married filing jointlySingle

Age

Under 6565 or older

At 65 or older the standard deduction is larger, so it is harder to beat.

Giving 2 years of gifts at once saves

$1,056

Giving $15,000 every year costs $51,800 in federal tax over 2 years. Giving $30,000 at once costs $50,744. Year by year, your $26,000 of deductions never beats the $32,200 standard deduction, so the gifts count only through the $2,000 deduction allowed to people who do not itemize. Given at once, the gift year deducts $41,000 and the other year takes the standard deduction.

Total deductions over 2 years, giving at once: $73,200; Against $68,400 giving every year
Gifts that earn no deduction, in each year you give: $1,000; The first 0.5% of your income in gifts does not count, once per giving year
State and local taxes you can deduct: $12,000; Capped at $40,400, and the cap shrinks above $505,000 of income

The charities receive the same money on the same schedule. Only the timing of your deduction changes. Giving several years at once works best when your yearly deductions sit just under the standard deduction. Piling the gifts into one year then clears it by a wide margin, and the other years lose nothing because they take the standard deduction anyway. It also means the first slice of gifts that earns no deduction is lost only once instead of every year. It works less well when you already itemize every year, and not at all when the gifts are small.

This uses the 2026 standard deduction, the extra amount at 65, the federal brackets from Rev. Proc. 2025-32, the cap on state and local tax deductions, the charitable floor, and the deduction allowed to people who do not itemize. It covers cash gifts to public charities only. It leaves out the lower deduction limit for top-bracket filers, gifts of stock or other property, medical and other itemized deductions, state tax, and the rule that gifts to a donor-advised fund do not qualify for the non-itemizer deduction. Educational, not advice.

This is a simplified model, not your actual tax return or plan. It only knows what you type in, leaves out rules that may apply to you, and cannot weigh the other facts and trade-offs a real decision depends on. Before you act, talk with a professional who knows your whole situation.

Built by Joshua Mangoubi, CFA, MBA. By using this tool you agree to the tool terms, which include that results vary with each use and over time. Cite this tool, or take a table or chart

How it counts. Both patterns run year by year: the deductions beat the standard deduction or they do not, with the state and local tax cap, the charitable floor and limit, and the non-itemizer deduction from the itemized record, and the tax from the revenue procedure's tables.

What it assumes. Cash gifts, federal tax only, and this year's rules held constant. Gifts of appreciated stock have their own advantage, top-bracket filers have a cap on the value of every deduction, and whether a donor-advised fund suits you is a conversation, not a calculation.

Where we fit in. We integrate tax considerations into your investment strategy and collaborate with estate attorneys and CPAs to ensure your plan is coordinated. We are not a law firm or accounting firm, so we do not provide legal or tax advice. Everything in this material is for educational purposes, based on primary sources. Before taking any action, please consult the appropriate professionals to apply these ideas to your situation.

The facts, in one place.

Six quotable sentences on itemizing and bunching, 2026 figures.

A charitable gift reduces tax only if you itemize, and you itemize only if your deductions beat the standard deduction: $32,200 joint, $16,100 single for 2026. Most retirees who give steadily do not clear it, so their gifts save nothing.
From 2026, itemizers deduct only the part of their gifts over 0.5% of adjusted gross income (§ 170(b)(1)(I)), and non-itemizers may deduct up to $1,000 single or $2,000 joint of cash gifts to public charities (§ 170(p)).
State and local taxes are deductible up to $40,400 in 2026, reduced by 30 percent of income over $505,000 down to a floor of $10,000 (§ 164(b)(7)); the cap rises 1 percent a year through 2029.
Bunching means giving several years' gifts at once, usually into a donor-advised fund that pays them out on the old schedule, so one year clears the standard deduction by a wide margin and the others take the standard deduction anyway.
Example: a couple with $200,000 of income, $12,000 of state and local taxes, and $15,000 of yearly gifts. Given yearly they never itemize; two years of gifts at once itemizes $41,000 in the gift year, and the pair of years saves $1,056.
The floor is applied once per year of giving, so bunching also shrinks it: two years of gifts pay one year's floor. For a top-bracket filer the value of every itemized deduction is capped at 35 cents on the dollar (§ 68).

The itemizing figures.

The standard deduction to beat, the tax cap, the charitable floor and limit, and the non-itemizer amount.

The deductions a bunching decision turns on, 2026 (§§ 63, 164, 170, 68; Rev. Proc. 2025-32)
Figure	Amount	Authority
Standard deduction	$32,200 joint · $16,100 single	§ 63(c)
Age-65 addition	$1,650 per spouse joint · $2,050 single	§ 63(f)
State and local tax cap	$40,400; 30% phase-down above $505,000; floor $10,000	§ 164(b)(7)
Charitable floor for itemizers	0.5% of adjusted gross income	§ 170(b)(1)(I)
Cash gifts deductible up to	60% of adjusted gross income	§ 170(b)(1)(G)
Non-itemizer charitable deduction	$1,000 single · $2,000 joint	§ 170(p)
Top-bracket limitation	Deductions worth at most 35 cents on the dollar	§ 68

How bunching works.

A charitable gift lowers federal tax only through an itemized deduction, and a household itemizes only when its deductions together beat the standard deduction. With state and local taxes capped and the standard deduction large, most retirees who give steadily never cross the line, and their gifts save nothing beyond the small non-itemizer deduction. Bunching moves the gifts, not the giving: two or three years of contributions go into a donor-advised fund in one year, the fund pays the charities on the usual schedule, and that one year clears the standard deduction by a margin while the others take it as before.

The rules that took effect this year change the arithmetic in three places. Itemizers deduct only gifts over half a percent of income, a floor that is paid once per giving year, so bunching pays it once. The state and local tax cap rose, which brings more households near the itemizing line. And non-itemizers may deduct a small amount of cash gifts, which the off years keep only if some giving continues. The calculator runs both patterns over the bunching period and reports the difference.

Methodology.

Inputs. Adjusted gross income, filing status and ages, state and local taxes paid, mortgage interest, cash gifts each year, and the number of years to bunch.
The standard deduction. For the status, with the age-65 additions, from the annual record (§ 63).
Itemized deductions. State and local taxes up to the cap for the income (§ 164(b)(7): the cap less 30 percent of income over the threshold, floored), plus mortgage interest, plus cash gifts up to 60 percent of income less the half-percent floor (§ 170(b)(1)(G), (I)).
The patterns. Yearly: the same year repeated, itemizing if the deductions beat the standard deduction, else the standard deduction plus the non-itemizer amount (§ 170(p)). Bunched: one gift year with all the gifts, then off years with none.
The tax. Ordinary tax on income less the deduction each year from the revenue procedure's tables, summed over the period; the saving is yearly less bunched.
Validation. The cap under, past, and at the floor of its phase-down; and a pinned joint case where giving yearly never itemizes and two years at once does, summed by hand. A transcription error fails the build.
Not modeled. Gifts of appreciated property (a 30 percent limit and no gain), the 35 percent limitation for top-bracket filers (§ 68), medical and other itemized deductions, state tax, carryforwards, the donor-advised fund's own terms, and the exclusion of such funds from the non-itemizer deduction. Educational, not advice.

Sources.

1. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 164(b)(6) and (7) — Limitation on state and local tax deduction. The applicable limitation of $40,000 for 2025 and $40,400 for 2026, rising 1 percent a year through 2029 and reverting to $10,000 after; the reduction of 30 percent of modified adjusted gross income over $500,000 (2025) or $505,000 (2026), also indexed 1 percent; the $10,000 floor; and the halving for a separate return. Retrieved September 6, 2026; verified September 6, 2026.
2. Congress.gov, Public Law 119-21, §§ 70424 and 70425 — 0.5-percent floor on charitable contributions of individuals; charitable deduction for non-itemizers. That for taxable years after 2025 an individual's charitable contributions are deductible only to the extent they exceed 0.5 percent of the contribution base (new § 170(b)(1)(I)); that the 60-percent limit for cash gifts is permanent; and that non-itemizers may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) of cash gifts to public charities other than donor-advised funds (§ 170(p)). Retrieved September 6, 2026; verified September 6, 2026.
3. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 68 — Overall limitation on itemized deductions (as amended 2025). That for taxable years after 2025 itemized deductions are reduced by 2/37 of the lesser of the deductions or the taxable income above the start of the 37 percent bracket, so a deduction is worth at most 35 cents on the dollar to a top-bracket filer. Retrieved September 6, 2026; verified September 6, 2026.
4. Internal Revenue Service, Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. What counts as a qualified organization, the substantiation rules, the percentage limits, and the treatment of gifts to donor-advised funds. Retrieved September 6, 2026; verified September 6, 2026.
5. Internal Revenue Service, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 — 2026 inflation adjustments (§ 4.14 standard deduction; § 4.42 gift exclusion). The standard deduction amounts, the additional amounts for age or blindness, the $19,000 gift exclusion, and the $194,000 non-citizen-spouse exclusion. Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified September 4, 2026.
6. Internal Revenue Service, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 — 2026 inflation adjustments (tax rate tables § 4.01, capital gains § 4.03, AMT exemptions § 4.10). Every 2026 bracket boundary and base amount for individuals and for estates and trusts; the 0% and 15% capital-gain thresholds; the AMT exemption amounts. Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified September 4, 2026.

Revision history.

The record's history; the standard deduction and brackets come from the annual and federal records.

September 6, 2026: First release: the state and local tax cap with its phase-down and floor, the charitable floor and cash limit, the non-itemizer deduction, and the top-bracket limitation, for the charitable bunching tool.

Canonical address: https://consideratecapital.com/tools/charitable-bunching-calculator

A first conversation

When you are ready, this is worth an unhurried conversation.

A first call with an advisor, just to get to know each other. No preparation needed, and no obligation on either side.

Schedule a conversation See if you're a fit