Updated October 19, 2026. Quick answer: Form 1098-C is the statement a charity sends you after you donate a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane. Boxes 1 to 3 identify the gift: the date the charity received it, the odometer reading, year, make and model, and the identification number. The Instructions for Donor warn that Copy B has to be attached to your return to take a deduction of more than $500, and that the IRS will disallow the deduction if it is required and missing.
What boxes 1 to 3 report
Form 1098-C is titled Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes. The Instructions for Donor explain why it reaches you: “You received Form 1098-C because you donated a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane” The first three boxes are the identification block. They do not carry the dollar figures that drive your deduction; those sit in the later boxes covered on the Form 1098-C boxes 4a to 5b page and the Form 1098-C boxes 6a to 7 page.
The donor instructions describe box 1 in one line: “Shows the date the charity received the donated vehicle.” Boxes 2a to 2d are the descriptive fields: “Shows the vehicle odometer mileage reading (motor vehicles only), make, model, and year of the donated vehicle.” Box 3 is the identifying number: “Shows the vehicle identification number (VIN) for a motor vehicle, the hull identification number for a boat, or the aircraft identification number for an airplane.”
In plain terms, these boxes tell you which gift the form is about and when it happened. Compare each one with your own paperwork for the vehicle, because the form describes the charity’s record of the gift.
Boxes 1 to 3 at a glance
The table sets the donor’s description of each box beside what the charity is told to enter. The second set of rows comes from the charity-facing instructions, which speak to the organization that fills in the form, and they are included so you can see what the entries are meant to contain.
| Box | What the instructions say |
|---|---|
| Box 1 | “Shows the date the charity received the donated vehicle.” |
| Boxes 2a to 2d | “Shows the vehicle odometer mileage reading (motor vehicles only), make, model, and year of the donated vehicle.” |
| Box 3 | “Shows the vehicle identification number (VIN) for a motor vehicle, the hull identification number for a boat, or the aircraft identification number for an airplane.” |
| Charity’s instruction for box 1 | “Enter the date you received the motor vehicle, boat, or airplane from the donor.” |
| Charity’s instruction for box 2a | “Enter mileage only for motor vehicles in box 2a.” |
| Charity’s instruction for box 3 | “For any vehicle contributed, this number is generally affixed to the vehicle.” |
Box 2a is only for motor vehicles, as the donor instructions put it with the words in parentheses. A boat or an airplane would not have a mileage entry in box 2a, so a blank there is not by itself a sign of a problem.
The odometer, make, model and year
The charity-facing instructions say the charity must enter the right units: “Donees must ensure that the odometer reading is in miles, not kilometers.” If your dashboard showed kilometers and the form shows a much smaller number, that is the kind of difference worth asking the charity about.
The instructions give the same pattern for every kind of vehicle. They tell the charity to “Enter the appropriate information in each box.” That means year in box 2b, make in box 2c and model in box 2d. A typo in any of those can make the form hard to match to the vehicle you gave away, so read them against the title or registration.
The identification number in box 3
The charity instructions explain what the number is and where it comes from: “For a motor vehicle, the vehicle identification number (VIN) is 17 alphanumeric characters in length.” For the other two kinds of property they say “For a boat, the hull identification number is 12 characters in length and is usually located on the starboard transom.” and “For an airplane, the aircraft identification number is 6 alphanumeric characters in length and is located on the tail of a U.S. aircraft.”
A quick count of the characters in box 3 is a useful check against the vehicle’s own paperwork. If the number looks wrong, ask the charity for a corrected form rather than altering the printed copy yourself.
Your taxpayer identification number on the form
The donor instructions say the form may not show your full number: “For your protection, this form may show only the last four digits of your TIN”. They go on to list the kinds of number covered and add a reassurance: “However, the issuer has reported your complete TIN to the IRS.”
The charity-facing instructions confirm that shortening is permitted on the copy that goes to you: “all filers of this form may truncate a donor’s TIN” and also set a limit, “Truncation is not allowed on any documents the filer files with the IRS.” So a masked number on your Copy B is expected and is not an error.
Attach Copy B and when the charity must send it
The most important sentence on the donor instructions is the caution: “You must attach Copy B of Form 1098-C to your income tax return in order to take a deduction for the contribution of a qualified vehicle with a claimed value of more than $500.”
The form’s own margin note on Copy B says the same: “In order to take a deduction of more than $500 for this contribution, you must attach this copy to your federal tax return.” The consequence is stated plainly: “If you do not attach Copy B of Form 1098-C to your return (or to Form 8453) when required, the IRS will disallow your deduction.”
If you file electronically there are two routes in the instructions: “you must (a) attach Copy B of Form 1098-C to Form 8453 and mail the forms to the IRS, or (b) include Form 1098-C as a PDF attachment if your software program permits.” The instructions add a second form to expect: “Generally, you must also attach Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, if the amount you deduct for all noncash gifts is more than $500.” The line by line guidance is on the Form 8283 page, and the wider rules for donations are on the charitable giving page.
Timing matters because you cannot attach a form you have not received. The donor instructions say “Generally, the charity must furnish this form to you no later than 30 days after the date it sold the donated vehicle (if box 4a is checked) or 30 days after the date of the contribution (if box 5a or 5b is checked).” The next page, Form 1098-C boxes 4a to 5b, explains what those boxes mean. The instructions cover the case where neither is checked: “If none of these boxes is checked, you must obtain this form by the due date (including extensions) of your tax return for the year of the contribution (or, if earlier, the date you file that return).”
Where it goes on the return
The sources tell you to attach Copy B to your return and, generally, Form 8283. For the return itself, read the Schedule A page alongside the Form 8283 page, and see Form 1098-C boxes 6a to 7 for the box 7 rule on the deduction.
Edition and box numbers
This page reads Form 1098-C (Rev. April 2025), the edition printed in the header of the form, together with the charity-facing Instructions for Form 1098-C, which are dated Rev. November 2019. The charity-facing instructions explain: “Form 1098-C and these instructions have been converted from an annual revision to continuous use.” “Both the form and instructions will be updated as needed.” Check the year and edition printed on the form you received, because box numbers can change between editions.
Common mistakes
- Filing without Copy B when claiming more than $500. The instructions say “If you do not attach Copy B of Form 1098-C to your return (or to Form 8453) when required, the IRS will disallow your deduction.”
- Waiting for the form with no deadline in mind. The donor instructions say “If none of these boxes is checked, you must obtain this form by the due date (including extensions) of your tax return for the year of the contribution”.
- Treating a masked number as a mistake. The instructions say “this form may show only the last four digits of your TIN”.
Related: Form 8283, charitable giving, and Schedule A.
Sources
- Form 1098-C, Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes, with Instructions for Donor: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1098c.pdf
- Instructions for Form 1098-C: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1098c.pdf
- IRS: About Form 1098-C: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1098-c
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 19, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.