The TikTok creator leans into the camera with righteous indignation. She has some important financial advice for people confused about donation requests at checkout.
You see the solicitations all the time — various charities teaming up with retailers to raise needed funds. Just before you finish paying either in person or online, you’re asked for a contribution. You can give a specific amount or round up your purchase total to help fund a children’s hospital charitable campaign or a food bank.
“When you go to check out and get asked to donate to charity, do not donate to it,” the TikToker warned. “That money is a tax write-off for the company.”
The video, posted this month ahead of Thanksgiving, received over 1,000 likes. Retailers “don’t deserve the tax write off for MY generosity,” one person commented.
Similar videos have been uploaded on Instagram, claiming to reveal the truth about checkout charity, and it’s fueling a growing wave of consumer skepticism: Why give your dollars if the store benefits from the tax break?
While mistrust of corporations is understandable and often justified, in this specific case, the advice is entirely wrong.
If you’re declining to give because of a social media video, you’re making a financial decision based on bad information.
Corporations cannot take tax deductions for charitable contributions made by their customers. This would be illegal under U.S. tax law, according to Renu Zaretsky, a writer and editor for the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
Zaretsky has been trying to correct the misinformation ever since she came across a TikTok video during the pandemic claiming companies get the tax deduction when customers give. That video had more 500,000 likes and was shared 28,000 times on the platform, she wrote in a 2020 blog post.
“It really irritated me a bit because it was just so wrong,” she said in an interview. “There are charities that are working really well to collect a lot of money for good causes, and I would hate for people to be misinformed and stop giving if they could afford it.”
Zaretsky said charities can benefit from point-of-sale donations in two ways: Either the business donates a portion of its sales or it acts as an intermediary for donations.
In other words, if the business is acting lawfully, the company can donate a percentage of sales and take a charitable deduction. Or it can ask customers to donate, then pass along the money to the charity. In that case, the customer might claim the deduction. For small donations, though, many people don’t take a deduction, she said.
Here’s more reason to give at checkout: Starting in 2026, taxpayers who claim the standard deduction (meaning they don’t itemize) can take an above-the-line deduction for qualified charitable contributions — up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. An above-the-line deduction means you can subtract it from your gross income before calculating your adjusted gross income, which in turn lowers your taxable income.
That’s a big change from this tax year, when you can deduct charitable contributions only if you itemize your deductions.
The bottom line: Don’t avoid giving just because you think companies are taking advantage of you.
By discouraging donations at checkout based on an inaccurate understanding of tax law, these social media videos could disrupt a crucial funding source for some charities.
You might feel annoyed or pressured by checkout charity campaigns. However, they have proven to be an effective way for nonprofits to raise funds. How many times have you meant to give, but life gets in the way, and you don’t follow through? Encouraging generosity at the point of sale helps generate essential funds.
“The concept of ‘checkout charity’ is really one of impulse giving,” wrote two researchers for a paper published in the Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs last year.
The study also discovered something interesting. Younger customers and women were more likely to give at the register.
“The most drastic impact on giving at the register was being Black,” the researchers found.
Black customers reported giving $122.80 more annually than a White respondent. “This is in alignment with previous research on African-American giving,” they wrote.
The research pointed out that some customers might feel pressured to donate at checkout. The decision is completely yours. If you can’t afford it or don’t want to support that specific charity, say no without hesitation or guilt. It’s your money, and nobody should make you feel obligated.
Usually, I warn against making hasty decisions, but with checkout donation campaigns, small change makes a difference.
In 2024, 92 checkout charity campaigns raised over $275 million, according to a report by Engage for Good, which tracks this specific type of giving. The average donation was $1.13. Taco Bell reported raising $50 million in 2024, with an average donation of 44 cents. Walmart and Sam’s Club gathered $43 million for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ campaign, which included customer donations.
As with most online content, independently verify the information before it affects a financial decision.
Got doubts about a financial claim you saw online or heard from a friend? Email your questions to me at [email protected]. I will fact-check it.
The post Think stores get the tax break? The truth about checkout donations. appeared first on Washington Post.
