Doing good and getting money back: How to deduct your donations from tax in 2026

If you have ever donated before or even regularly support non-profit organizations, you probably do so primarily because you want to make a difference and actively advocate for a cause. The nice side effect of your commitment with money: your donation is tax-deductible in the year in which it was made. This allows you to do good - and save taxes at the same time. In this blog post, we explain what you need to consider when deducting your donations and how you can get the most out of 2026 for yourself. And who knows - maybe you would like to use the money saved in this way right away for other social causes?

✨ Discover how easy online donating is with bcause:

👉 Donating without detours

In the last part of the blog post, we will show you why we believe that you are highly likely not donating as much as you actually could...

📚 Table of Contents

1. Money back from the state - here's how it works!

2. Pro tip: Income tax reduction - receive tax savings in the year of the donation

3. How do I receive the donation receipt from an organization?

4. How much will I get back this year?

5. Summary: Everything you need to know for your 2025 tax savings at a glance

Money back from the state - here's how it works!

Anyone who donates gets almost half back from the state - starting from an income of EUR 69,879, it is 42%. In total, you can claim donations up to 20% of your total income (maximum amount). To obtain the tax deduction, it is necessary to declare your donations in your income tax return. If you file your tax return with Elster, you will find the correct field in the Special Expenses attachment (Anlage Sonderausgaben). On page 2, line 5, you can enter the individual amounts that you donated to non-profit organizations in the past year. For donations up to €300, a formal donation receipt is not even required as proof - a simplified proof is sufficient, such as a transfer to a donation account, which you can present upon request if necessary.

Did you donate a particularly large amount last year?

This happens quite often when people make contributions from existing assets or want to use special cash events such as severance pay, inheritances, or sales proceeds for a good cause. Do not worry: anything that exceeds 20% of your total income can easily be carried forward as a donation carryforward to the following year. To do this, you only need to check line 6 in the Other attachment (Anlage Sonstiges) in your next tax return.

If you do not want to stretch your commitment over several years, you can use the option of a contribution to the endowment fund (”Grundstock”) of a foundation. In this way, €1 million is fully deductible in the year of the contribution and is credited in subsequent years (”retained”). For married couples, the sum can even be twice as high. BUT: Foundations are not allowed to spend these assets, but only to invest them and then do good from the yields. Calculated over a very long period, this commitment can achieve a lot. If you want to put money into effect today, you should rather partially forego the tax benefit and donate directly.

Pro tip: Income tax reduction - receive tax savings in the year of the donation

Did you know that as a private individual, you can receive the tax savings for your donations in the year of the donation - and not in the following year when you do your tax return? This works for everyone who pays wage tax through a so-called wage tax reduction. The donations are taken into account as special expenses and an allowance is entered on your wage tax card, so that you pay less wage tax monthly. While you can theoretically apply for a wage tax reduction starting from the smallest donation, the effort is only worthwhile in practice from a certain amount. For smaller amounts, the effect on monthly wage tax might be rather minor.

Example calculation

Planned donation: €1,000

Tax rate: 30%

Tax savings:

1,000 EUR × 30% = 300 EUR / year

Monthly effect:

300 EUR ÷ 12 months = 25 EUR less wage tax per month

If your annual donations reach an amount of at least 600 to 1,000 EUR, an income tax reduction in the form of an allowance can already have a noticeable effect on your monthly deductions.

Application for wage tax reduction

You must submit an application for an income tax reduction to the tax office. In this application, you declare your expected donations. The deadline is November 30 of a year for the current year.

How do I receive the donation receipt from an organization?

Donation receipts are automatically created by most established organizations and sent at the beginning of the following year if an address has been provided. If you want to receive the donation receipt immediately and avoid communication and further (advertising) letters from organizations, donating via bcause is an excellent option. There you can receive the donation receipt immediately and split a deposit into as many individual donations as you like. Even if these are only made after the end of the tax year, the donation receipt for the deposit is fully usable in the current year.

Did you misplace your receipt or did you not get one? - how it works even without a donation receipt

Are you already frantically searching for your donation receipts? Don't worry. Since 2021, you no longer need a formal receipt for donations up to €300 in your income tax return. They can simply be declared with the name of the receiving organization and the amount, and they will be automatically taken into account.

For donations over €300, it is important that you have a donation receipt (”Zuwendungsbestätigung nach amtlichem Muster”) issued by the organization you supported. The donation receipts do not have to be submitted together with the tax return. However, they must be kept and presented upon request by the tax office (duty to retain receipts).

Exceptions apply to certain disaster cases, on the occasion of which you donate to organizations in other European countries, such as the Ukraine war. Also, for donations to political parties, amounts over €300 can be deducted without a donation certificate.

So the good news is: in certain cases there is indeed a way to claim a donation without a donation receipt in your tax return. You can find out more about what needs to be considered in detail in our blog article:

🔎 Donation receipts for the tax return - answers to the most important questions.

How much will I get back this year?

To calculate how much you will get back from your tax this year through your donations, we have created our own calculator, where you only need to enter the donation sum and your income (to calculate the tax rate).

👉 directly to the bcause donation calculator

Of course, your data will not be saved. Feel free to try it out right away - you will be surprised how much you can get back this year! And maybe it will even inspire you to increase your donation sum this year - after all, a donation of €1,000 only costs you €580 due to the refund from the state. Or argued the other way around: if you are willing to give €1,000 net, you could even donate €1,724.

Summary: Everything you need to know for your 2025 tax savings at a glance

• You can get back up to 42% of your donations with your income tax.

• This tax advantage applies up to 20% of your total income.

• Donations over €300 require a donation receipt. Exceptions are made for certain disaster cases and donations to political parties.

• To calculate exactly how much you get back when you donate a certain amount, you can use our donation calculator introduced above.

• Most people donate less than they actually could. This is because they do not calculate that they will get almost half of it back and could therefore potentially increase their sum.

Ready to make a difference today?

👉 Discover now how your money can move more.

Have you already submitted your tax return this year? If you still have questions about your tax savings or donation options, get in touch with us directly via mail at hallo@bcause.com.