No. The IRS treats a raffle ticket as a purchase of a chance to win, not a gift, so none of the price is deductible as a charitable contribution. Two nuances: losing tickets can count as gambling losses if you itemize and have gambling winnings, and other payments at charity events may be partly deductible.
Key takeaways
- IRS Publication 526 states it plainly: you cannot deduct amounts paid to buy raffle or lottery tickets or to play bingo or other games of chance, even when a 501(c)(3) charity runs the game.
- The legal reason is consideration. Revenue Ruling 83-130 holds that the chance to win a prize is full value received for your payment, no matter how long the odds.
- Losing raffle tickets are gambling losses, not donations. They are deductible only if you itemize, and only up to your gambling winnings for the year. Starting with tax year 2026, only 90% of gambling losses are deductible under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Raffle winnings are ordinary taxable income. The charity must withhold 24% federal tax when your net winnings exceed $5,000, and file Form W-2G at lower thresholds.
- At galas and charity dinners, you can deduct the amount you pay above the fair market value of what you receive. The charity must tell you that number in writing for payments over $75.
Why the IRS says no
Publication 526, the IRS guide to charitable contributions, lists raffle tickets by name under contributions you cannot deduct. The rule covers raffles, lotteries, bingo, and any other game of chance, regardless of who runs it or where the money ends up.
The reasoning comes down to what you get back. A deductible charitable contribution is a gift: money or property transferred with nothing of value received in return. When you buy a raffle ticket, you receive something the IRS considers full consideration for your payment, which is the chance to win the prize. Revenue Ruling 83-130 established this in the context of a house raffle run by a 501(c)(3): the buyers received a chance at a valuable prize, so they received full value, so no part of the ticket price was a gift.
The odds do not matter. A 1-in-50,000 shot at a car is still consideration. It also does not matter that you bought the ticket purely to support the cause, that you would have donated the money anyway, or that you lost. Intent is irrelevant; the structure of the transaction controls.
One narrow exception exists on paper. If you knowingly pay more than the ticket's stated price as a combined purchase and gift, the excess over the price of the chance can qualify as a contribution. In practice this almost never applies to raffles, where the ticket price is the ticket price. If you want a deduction, hand the charity a check and skip the drawing.
The gambling loss angle
Here is the twist most people miss: the IRS classifies raffle ticket purchases as gambling, and Topic 419 explicitly includes raffles in gambling income. That opens a different, much narrower door.
Losing raffle tickets count as gambling losses. Gambling losses are deductible only as an itemized deduction on Schedule A, and only up to the amount of gambling winnings you report for the year. No winnings, no deduction. If you bought $500 in raffle tickets and won nothing all year from any form of gambling, that $500 is gone with no tax benefit. If you won $2,000 at a casino and lost $500 on raffle tickets, the $500 offsets part of the $2,000, but only if you itemize.
The rules tightened further starting in 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, caps the gambling loss deduction at 90% of losses for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. Someone with $10,000 of winnings and $10,000 of losses now deducts only $9,000 and pays tax on $1,000 of phantom income. The FAIR BET Act (H.R. 4304) would restore the 100% deduction, but as of August 2026 it has not passed, so the 90% limit stands for 2026 returns.
For most people buying a few charity raffle tickets, the practical answer is simple: expect no deduction at all.
What is deductible at a charity event
Charity fundraisers bundle a lot of different payments, and the tax treatment differs line by line. The governing concept is the quid pro quo rule: when a payment is partly a contribution and partly a purchase, you can deduct only the excess over the fair market value (FMV) of what you receive. The IRS example: give a charity $100, receive a concert ticket worth $40, and your deduction is $60.
Charities are required to give you a written disclosure stating the deductible amount for any quid pro quo payment over $75, with penalties of $10 per contribution (up to $5,000 per event) if they fail to. Keep that acknowledgment; it is your substantiation if you are audited.
| Payment at a charity event | Deductible? |
|---|---|
| Raffle, lottery, or bingo tickets | No. A chance to win is full consideration |
| Gala or dinner ticket | Partly. Only the amount above the FMV of the meal and entertainment |
| Silent or live auction purchase | Partly. Only the amount you pay above the item's FMV, and only if you knew the FMV going in |
| Sponsorship with benefits (table, ads, tickets) | Partly. Deduct the excess over the FMV of benefits received |
| Outright cash donation at the event | Yes, in full, with a receipt |
| Declining all benefits (skip the dinner, refuse the seat) | Yes, the full payment, if you formally decline |
| Volunteer time or services | No. Time is never deductible, though unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses can be |
So at a $500-a-plate gala where the dinner's FMV is $150, you deduct $350. If you also drop $200 on raffle tickets at that same gala, that $200 deducts nothing.
If you win the raffle
Winning flips the tax picture entirely. Raffle prizes are gambling winnings, taxable as ordinary income at your marginal rate, whether the prize is cash, a car, or a vacation. Noncash prizes are taxed at fair market value. For a high earner, a $50,000 prize can mean roughly $18,500 in federal tax before state tax.
The charity has mechanical obligations, per the IRS instructions for Form W-2G (Rev. January 2026):
- Reporting. The organization files Form W-2G when your winnings (minus the ticket cost) meet the reporting threshold and are at least 300 times your wager. That threshold was historically $600; for payments made in calendar year 2026 it rises to $2,000 under the OBBBA's information reporting changes, indexed for inflation going forward.
- Withholding. If winnings minus the wager exceed $5,000, the organization must withhold 24% federal income tax. This is regular gambling withholding, and it applies to church raffles and charity drawings just like commercial lotteries.
- Noncash prizes. Win a car with FMV over $5,000 (after subtracting the ticket price) and either you pay the charity 24% of the prize's value minus the wager so it can remit the withholding, or the charity covers the tax for you, which is treated as additional winnings and pushes the effective rate to 31.58%.
- Backup withholding. Refuse to give the charity your Social Security number and it must withhold 24% even below the $5,000 line.
Report winnings as other income on Schedule 1 of Form 1040 whether or not you receive a W-2G. Withholding shows up as a credit against your total tax, but if your marginal rate exceeds 24%, expect to owe more at filing.
Smarter ways to give
If tax efficiency is part of your giving strategy, raffle tickets are the worst tool available: no deduction on the way in and ordinary income tax if you win. Better options for the same dollars:
- Give cash directly. Deductible in full against AGI limits if you itemize. Starting in 2026, even non-itemizers can deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts ($2,000 married filing jointly), though itemizers now face a floor that disallows contributions up to 0.5% of AGI.
- Donate appreciated stock. Deduct the full fair market value of long-term holdings and never pay capital gains tax on the appreciation. This routinely beats writing a check for anyone with a taxable brokerage account.
- Use a donor-advised fund. Bunch several years of giving into one tax year to clear the itemizing hurdle (and, from 2026, the AGI floor), then grant to charities over time.
- Give from your IRA. If you are 70½ or older, qualified charitable distributions transfer money directly from your IRA to charity, excluded from income entirely. Our guide to gifting your RMD to family covers how QCDs compare with other ways to deploy required distributions.
None of this means skipping the raffle at your kid's school auction. Buy the tickets, enjoy the drawing, and treat the cost as consumption, not philanthropy. Just route the dollars you care about deducting through a channel the IRS actually rewards, and be ready for the paperwork if you win.
Deduction questions like this one turn on transaction structure more often than intent, which is why the answers are frequently counterintuitive; seller concessions follow the same pattern. For the broader playbook, our tax strategy hub covers the moves that actually cut your bill. And because charitable and gambling rules changed materially for 2026, confirm anything consequential with a CPA before you file. This article is general information, not tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can I deduct raffle tickets if I bought them to support a charity?
No, you cannot deduct raffle tickets even when a 501(c)(3) charity runs the game and you bought them purely to support the cause. IRS Publication 526 lists raffle tickets by name under contributions you cannot deduct. The reason is consideration: the chance to win a prize is full value received for your payment, so no part of the ticket price is a gift. Intent is irrelevant; the transaction structure controls.
Are losing raffle tickets deductible as gambling losses?
Losing raffle tickets can count as gambling losses, but only narrowly. They are deductible solely as an itemized deduction on Schedule A, and only up to the amount of gambling winnings you report for the year. No winnings means no deduction. Starting with tax year 2026, only 90% of gambling losses are deductible under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
How much of a charity gala ticket is tax deductible?
Only the amount you pay above the fair market value of the meal and entertainment is deductible for a gala or dinner ticket. At a $500-a-plate gala where the dinner's FMV is $150, you deduct $350. Charities must give you written disclosure of the deductible amount for any quid pro quo payment over $75. If you also buy raffle tickets at that gala, that portion deducts nothing.
Do I owe tax if I win a charity raffle?
Yes, raffle prizes are gambling winnings taxable as ordinary income at your marginal rate, whether the prize is cash, a car, or a vacation, with noncash prizes taxed at fair market value. The charity must withhold 24% federal tax when winnings minus the wager exceed $5,000, and file Form W-2G at lower thresholds. Report winnings as other income on Schedule 1 of Form 1040 whether or not you receive a W-2G.
What are more tax-efficient ways to give than buying raffle tickets?
Better options include giving cash directly, donating appreciated stock, using a donor-advised fund, or giving from your IRA. Donating long-term appreciated stock lets you deduct the full fair market value and never pay capital gains on the appreciation. If you are 70 and a half or older, qualified charitable distributions transfer money directly from your IRA to charity, excluded from income entirely. Raffle tickets are the worst tool: no deduction in and income tax if you win.