Are contributions to United States charitable organizations for international disaster relief deductible as charitable contributions? Contributions to qualified domestic charitable organizations that provide assistance to individuals in foreign countries qualify as tax-deductible contributions for federal income tax purposes, provided the U.S. organization has full control and discretion over the uses of such funds. You can deduct contributions for flood relief, hurricane relief, or other disaster relief to a qualified organization (defined in Publication 526 under Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible Contributions PDF). However, you can't deduct contributions earmarked for relief of a particular individual or family. If the contributor is a corporation, its contributions for use in a foreign country are not deductible unless the domestic charity is itself organized as a corporation for federal tax purposes. Contributions to foreign organizations are generally not tax-deductible, unless permitted by a tax treaty. The United States currently has tax treaties with Canada, Mexico, and Israel. See Publication 526, Charitable Contributions PDF, for limitations that apply pursuant to these treaties.
