Section 80G: Tax Deduction on Donations in India

Section 80G of the Income-tax Act, 1961 lets you cut your taxable income by claiming a deduction for money you donate to approved funds and charitable institutions. For your return this year, that means AY 2026-27 (the financial year 2025-26). The catch most people miss: you can claim 80G only if you opt for the OLD tax regime. Under the default new regime, 80G is not allowed, so you must actively choose old to get the benefit. Depending on the fund, you get back either 100% or 50% of what you gave, and some funds carry a ceiling tied to your income.

This is one of the few feel-good sections in the tax code: you help a cause and the government shares part of the cost through a lower tax bill. But the rules around cash limits, eligible funds, and a new donor certificate (Form 10BE) trip up a lot of honest givers every filing season. Here is the plain-language version, checked against the Income Tax Department's own Section 80G FAQ.

The Department's official FAQ confirms donations fall into four categories based on the deduction allowed. Sorting your donation into the right bucket is the whole game.

Two ideas are doing the work here. First, percentage: some funds let you write off the whole donation, others only half. Second, the 10% ceiling: for the “with limit” buckets, your total qualifying donations cannot exceed 10% of your adjusted gross total income, and any amount above that line is simply ignored. The “without limit” funds have no such cap.

These are mostly central government relief funds. Per the FAQ's Annexure-1, the list includes the National Defence Fund, the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, the PM CARES Fund, the National Children's Fund, the Clean Ganga Fund, the Swachh Bharat Kosh, the National Sports Development Fund and the National Cultural Fund, among 24 named funds. Give ₹50,000 to any of these and the full ₹50,000 comes off your taxable income.

This bucket is now very small. The FAQ states that the only fund here is the Prime Minister's Drought Relief Fund. Older memorial funds that used to sit in this slot were removed by the Finance Act, 2023 with effect from 1 April 2023, so do not rely on outdated lists you find online.

This is the bucket the typical donor falls into. When you give to an approved NGO, charitable trust, a notified place of worship needing repair, or a local authority for a charitable purpose, you usually get 50% of the donation back, and only up to 10% of your adjusted gross total income.

Say a reader from Pune has an adjusted gross total income of ₹8,00,000 and donates ₹1,00,000 to a registered NGO in the 50%-with-limit bucket. Her 10% ceiling is ₹80,000. Since her donation is below that ceiling, the qualifying amount is the full ₹1,00,000, and she deducts 50% of it, which is ₹50,000, from her taxable income. Had she instead given the same ₹1,00,000 to the PM CARES Fund (100%, no limit), she could deduct the entire ₹1,00,000.

Two hard limits catch people out every year.

1. Cash above ₹2,000 does not count. The FAQ is blunt: “No deduction shall be allowed under Section 80G in respect of any donation of any sum exceeding two thousand rupees unless such sum is paid by any mode other than cash” (section 80G(5D)). So anything over ₹2,000 must go by cheque, bank transfer, UPI or other electronic mode. Hand over ₹10,000 in cash and you get nothing.
2. Donations in kind do not count. Clothes, food, blankets, medicines, books: all kind-hearted, none deductible. Explanation 5 to the section makes clear that “deduction is allowed only for monetary donations, not donations in kind.” Only money qualifies.

This is the change that surprises long-time donors. From FY 2021-22 onward, the receipt alone is no longer enough. Under Rule 18AB, the charity (the donee) must file a statement of all donations in Form 10BD with the tax authorities, and then issue each donor a Form 10BE certificate. The Department's FAQ tells donors to “seek the Certificate of Donation as per Form 10BE (Rule 18AB of the Income Tax Rules, 1962) from donee.”

Why it matters to you: the Department now cross-checks your claim. As the FAQ puts it, “it is mandatory that the deduction claimed by the donor under Section 80G in their ITR matches with the details submitted by the donee in Form 10BD.” If the NGO never filed Form 10BD, or filed your PAN wrong, your deduction can be denied even with a genuine receipt. So always collect Form 10BE and check that your name, PAN and amount are correct.

1. Choose the old regime. 80G is a Chapter VI-A deduction. The FAQ confirms it “cannot be claimed if you opt for the new tax regime as per section 115BAC.” Opt for old when you file.
2. Donate by a non-cash mode if the gift is above ₹2,000: cheque, net banking, UPI or a card.
3. Confirm the fund is approved under 80G and note its category. You can verify the donee on the Department's exempted-institutions utility at https://incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/utilities/exempted-institutions.aspx
4. Collect Form 10BE from the charity and keep the receipt. Check your PAN, name and amount on it.
5. Enter the details in your ITR. Go to “Deductions under Chapter VI-A,” select Section 80G, and fill in the donee's name, PAN, registration number, address and the donation amount.
6. Apply the right percentage and the 10% ceiling to arrive at the deduction. The portal usually computes this once you pick the donation category.

The Income-tax Act, 2025 takes effect from 1 April 2026 and will govern FY 2026-27 (Tax Year 2026-27) and beyond. It does not govern the return you are filing now. For AY 2026-27 (FY 2025-26), the Income-tax Act, 1961 and its Section 80G still apply. Treat the new Act as next year's reading.

If you want a clear, citizen-first walkthrough of how to use government records and your rights as a taxpayer and donor, The RTI Playbook is a useful companion. You can also browse more guides on the RTI Wiki homepage.

No. The Income Tax Department's FAQ is explicit: deduction under Section 80G “cannot be claimed if you opt for the new tax regime as per section 115BAC.” Since the new regime is the default, you must actively choose the old regime when filing to claim 80G.

No. Any cash donation above ₹2,000 is disallowed. To claim the deduction, pay anything over ₹2,000 by cheque, bank transfer, UPI or another electronic mode. Cash gifts of ₹2,000 or less can still qualify if the fund is eligible.

You need Form 10BE. Since FY 2021-22, the charity must file Form 10BD and issue you Form 10BE under Rule 18AB. The Department matches your ITR claim against the donee's Form 10BD filing, so a receipt without a matching filing can lead to your deduction being denied.

No. Only monetary donations qualify. Explanation 5 to Section 80G allows the deduction “only for monetary donations, not donations in kind,” so goods such as clothes, food or medicines do not give any tax benefit.

It is your gross total income reduced by certain items (other Chapter VI-A deductions except 80G, exempt income, and some capital gains). The 10% cap applies only to the “with limit” buckets, mainly approved NGOs, local authorities and notified places of worship. The 100%-without-limit and 50%-without-limit funds have no such ceiling.

No. The FAQ confirms that if your eligible donations exceed the qualifying limit, “you cannot carry the excess amount forward for a deduction in a future year.” The amount above the ceiling is simply lost for tax purposes.

Before you file, do three things: confirm the fund is approved under 80G and note its category, make sure any gift above ₹2,000 went by a non-cash mode, and collect your Form 10BE certificate. Then opt for the old regime and enter the donation under Schedule 80G in your ITR. Verify donee details on the Income Tax Department's exempted-institutions utility, and keep the certificate and receipt with your records in case of a query.

Sources: Income Tax Department, “FAQs related to Section 80G” (incometax.gov.in), confirming the four deduction categories, the ₹2,000 cash limit (section 80G(5D)), the donation-in-kind bar (Explanation 5), the Form 10BD/10BE requirement (Rule 18AB), the 10% adjusted-gross-total-income cap (sub-section 4) and the new-regime exclusion (section 115BAC). This guide is general information, not individual tax advice; confirm your specific facts with a tax professional.