A taxpayer who wishes to claim a charitable deduction must adequately substantiate and value his or her charitable contribution. Recordkeeping therefore is critical to securing a deduction for a charitable gift. For a monetary gift, no deduction is allowed unless the donor maintains a record in the form of a bank record or a written communication from the donee showing the name of the donee organization and the date of and amount of the contribution. Also, for any contribution of $250 or more, including contributions of any kind of property, a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the organization must be obtained before a deduction will be allowed. An appraisal by a qualified appraiser generally must be done for any non-cash contribution worth more than $5,000. A separate form must be attached to the donor’s income tax return for most non cash contributions. Substantial tax penalties apply for certain overstatements of the value of donated property. Unfortunately, a donor cannot deduct appraisal fees.