Cash, Checks & Credit Cards

Gifts of cash are the most common type of contribution.  Unless you derive a benefit from your contribution (for example, a portion of it pays for a gala YU dinner), you can generally deduct 100 percent of your gift. You should speak with your accountant, however, because there may be a limitation of only being able to deduct up to 50 percent of your Adjusted Gross Income with gifts of cash.  If so, have an additional five year "carry-over" period to deduct the entire gift.