<prompt> Human: So how do charitable donations work, exactly? This is the first year I am including the money I donated to charity in 2017, but I wasnt sure if it was supposed to affect how much I owe in taxes. Whenever I file taxes, I usually owe money for both federal and state.  <response>: Charitable donations are an itemized deduction for individuals. If the total of all your allowable itemized deductions are less than your standard deduction 6,350 for single, 12,700 for married filing jointly then youre better off taking the standard deduction, meaning your charitable donations dont actually get reported on your tax return. 