IRS Form 8282 Instructions: Filing Steps, Deadline, and Penalties

A charitable organization uses IRS Form 8282, the Donee Information Return, to report the sale, exchange, or other disposition of donated property that a donor valued above $5,000, when the disposition happens within three years of the organization first receiving the property. The form is due within 125 days of the disposition, a copy goes to the original donor, and the same rules follow the property if it is transferred from one charity to another. These Form 8282 instructions walk through when the form applies, what information you need, how to complete each part, and what happens if you file late.¹

When Form 8282 Applies

Two conditions have to be met together. The donated property must be “charitable deduction property,” meaning the donor reported it in Section B of Form 8283 with a claimed value above $5,000 for a single item or a group of similar items. And the organization must dispose of the property within three years of the date the original donee first received it.²

“Dispose of” is broad. It covers sales, exchanges, transfers to other organizations, and any other way the property leaves the organization’s hands, whether money changes hands or not. The property types that typically fall under this rule include non-publicly traded securities, real estate, artwork, antiques, vehicles, and specialized equipment. Cash and publicly traded securities are excluded from the definition.

When You Don’t Have to File

Two situations excuse the organization from filing even when the threshold and three-year window would otherwise apply.

The property was consumed or distributed, without consideration, in carrying out the organization’s exempt purpose. Medical supplies donated to a clinic and used in patient care are the classic example.³
The donor signed a statement on Form 8283 certifying that the specific item’s appraised value was $500 or less at the time of the contribution. Items forming a set, such as a collection of books by the same author or components of a stereo system, count as a single item for this test.¹

Document the reason any exclusion applies. If the IRS asks later, records showing the property was consumed in the mission or fell under the $500 threshold will close the inquiry quickly.

What You Need Before You Start

Accurate completion depends on two sources: the donor’s original Form 8283 and your own records of the disposition.

From Form 8283, pull the donor’s full name, address, and Taxpayer Identification Number. The TIN matters because the IRS uses it to link the disposition report back to the donor’s return and the deduction claimed there. Form 8283 also gives you a description of the property, the date the donee received it, and the claimed deduction amount.

From your own records, pull the exact date the property was sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of, the manner of the disposition, and the amount received. Report the gross figure before subtracting any costs associated with the sale. The IRS compares that pre-expense number against the donor’s original appraisal.

Filling Out the Form Part by Part

Form 8282 has four parts, plus an identifying block at the top where the organization enters its own name, address, and Employer Identification Number and checks the box indicating its tax-exempt status.¹

Part I: Original Donor and Successor Donee

Lines 1a through 1d capture the original donor’s name, address, and TIN. This must match Form 8283. If your organization transferred the property to another charity instead of selling it, lines 2a through 2d identify that successor donee: name, EIN, and address.

Part II: Previous Donees

Skip Part II if your organization received the property directly from the donor. If you are the second donee in a chain, complete lines 3a through 3d with information about the original donee. If you are the third or later donee, also complete lines 4a through 4d with details about the donee that transferred the property to you.

Part III: Donated Property

Part III is the substantive reporting. Describe the property, explain how it was used, and record three dates: when your organization received it, when the original donee first received it, and when the disposition occurred. Line 8 captures the amount received. If the property was transferred to another charity for nothing in return, that amount is zero.

Part III also asks whether the disposition involved the organization’s entire interest in the property and whether its use was related to the organization’s exempt purpose. That second question carries weight for donors of tangible personal property, because it directly affects whether the donor’s deduction gets reduced.

Part IV: Certification for Tangible Personal Property

Complete and sign Part IV under penalties of perjury when the donated property was tangible personal property and you indicated in Part III that its use was related to your exempt purpose. The certification confirms that the use was substantial and related to the mission, or that the intended use became impossible or infeasible to carry out.¹ This certification protects the donor from automatic deduction recapture, so getting it right matters for both parties.

If Your Charity Received the Property From Another Charity

When one charity transfers donated property to another instead of selling it, the reporting obligation follows the property. The successor donee files its own Form 8282 if it disposes of the property within the same three-year window, measured from the date the original donee first received it.¹

Record-keeping is the hard part. The successor donee needs information it may not naturally have: the original donor’s name and TIN, the original donee’s EIN and address, and the date the original donee first received the property. If you are accepting transferred property, request a copy of the signed Form 8283 and the transferring organization’s details at the time of the transfer, not months later when you sit down to file. Chasing this information retroactively is one of the most common compliance headaches with Form 8282.

The same exceptions apply to successor donees: exempt-purpose use and the $500 donor certification.

Deadline and Where to Send It

File Form 8282 with the IRS within 125 days after the date the organization disposes of the property.³ The clock runs from each individual disposition, not from the end of the tax year. Multiple items disposed of throughout the year mean multiple 125-day deadlines.

Provide a copy of the completed form to the original donor.² The donor may need it to work out the tax treatment of the original deduction, particularly for tangible personal property where the organization’s use and certification matter.

The mailing address depends on the location of the organization’s principal office. Check the current Form 8282 instructions for the correct Service Center address. An authorized officer must sign the form before submission.

Penalties for Missing or Botching the Filing

The IRS treats Form 8282 as an information return, and the standard information return penalty tiers apply when it is filed late or not at all. For returns due in 2026, the schedule is:⁴

Up to 30 days late: $60 per return.
31 days late through August 1: $130 per return.
After August 1 or never filed: $340 per return.
Intentional disregard: $680 per return.

The penalty applies separately to each Form 8282. Ten missed filings mean ten penalties, not one. The intentional-disregard tier applies when the IRS determines the failure was deliberate rather than accidental.

Part IV creates a separate exposure. The certification about tangible personal property is signed under penalties of perjury and carries a penalty under Section 6720B. A false certification there has consequences beyond the information-return schedule.

What the Filing Means for the Donor

Form 8282 is not just paperwork. The IRS uses the information to check whether the donor’s claimed deduction was reasonable.

For tangible personal property where the donor claimed a deduction above their cost basis, the tax code includes a recapture rule. If the donee disposes of the property before the end of the three-year period and cannot certify that the use was substantially related to the exempt purpose, the donor must include in income the difference between the deduction taken and their original cost basis.⁵ The extra deduction the donor received for donating appreciated tangible property gets clawed back.

Beyond recapture, if the IRS finds the donor substantially overstated the property’s value, accuracy-related penalties apply. A substantial valuation misstatement (claimed value at least 150% of the correct value) triggers a 20% penalty on the resulting tax underpayment, and a gross valuation misstatement (200% or more) doubles that to 40%.⁶ When a charity sells donated artwork shortly after the donor claimed a much higher deduction, Form 8282 is the document that starts the audit trail. Filing it accurately, and completing Part IV correctly when it applies, protects the donor as much as the charity.

Asking for Penalty Relief

An organization that misses the 125-day deadline or files an incomplete Form 8282 is not automatically stuck with the full penalty. The IRS will consider waiving penalties for reasonable cause.⁷

A reasonable-cause argument turns on two things. First, that the organization acted responsibly before and after the failure by requesting extensions when possible, trying to prevent foreseeable problems, and correcting the failure as quickly as it could. Second, that significant mitigating factors existed, such as being a first-time filer, a strong compliance history, or circumstances beyond the organization’s control.

Make the request by calling the number on the penalty notice or, if that does not resolve it, by filing Form 843 in writing. Have documentation ready showing what went wrong and what you did to fix it. If you discover a missed filing on your own, file the late Form 8282 immediately rather than waiting for the IRS to notice. A voluntary correction strengthens any later reasonable-cause argument considerably.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8282, Donee Information Return
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6050L – Returns Relating to Certain Donated Property
3
Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Organizations: Substantiating Noncash Contributions – Section: Dispositions of Donated Property
4
Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Penalties
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments
7
Internal Revenue Service. Penalty Relief for Reasonable Cause