Can I claim a charitable contribution for paying for a grandchild's tuition

[dde1]

Can I claim a charitable contribution for paying for a grandchild's tuition, where the money is paid directly to the school, and they apply it to tuition.  Does it make a difference if it is an elementary school, high school, or college?

[xmasbaby0]

No.    Gifts to family members are not deductible as charitable donations.  Only donations to recognized charities are deductible.  

Gifts given to family members, friends or other individuals are not deductible.   Gifts received are not taxable to the person who received the gift, and are not entered on a tax return.

If your gift exceeds the yearly limit ($17,000 per individual)  imposed by the gift tax rules, then you will need to complete a Form 709 gift tax form and send it to the IRS, although it is very unlikely that you will owe any tax.    In 2024 that yearly limit will increase to $18,000.

TurboTax does not support Form 709.  It is not an income tax form and would not be included as part of an income tax return.

Here is a link to the form:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f709.pdf

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/estates/the-gift-tax-made-simple/L5tGWVC8N

[dde1]

The gift is paid directly to the school, to be applied to tuition.

Can the school issue a charitable contribution receipt, since the grandparent is not responsible for the tuition.

[xmasbaby0]

No.    You are paying that tuition on behalf of a specific individual.   It is NOT a charitable donation.  It is not deductible for you.

[Hal_Al]

Paying it directly to the school does not change the fact that you are only paying your relative's tuition and not actually making a charitable contribution.  Even if your grandchild is not your dependent,  you would be considered as "receiving a financial benefit" if the money your "donated" was used to pay the tuition for a family member. 

From IRS Publication 526:

"If you receive or expect to receive a financial or economic benefit as a result of making a contribution to a qualified organization, you can't deduct the part of the contribution that represents the value of the benefit you receive.  These contributions include the following.

• Tuition, or amounts you pay instead of tuition. You can't deduct as a charitable contribution amounts you pay as tuition even if you pay them for children to attend parochial schools or qualifying nonprofit daycare centers. You also can't deduct any fixed amount you must pay in addition to, or instead of, tuition to enroll in a private school, even if it is designated as a “donation.”

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526#en_US_2023_publink1000229696

 It does not make a difference if it is an elementary school, high school, or college.