If I through a house party and ask for "donations" for a "charitable" event, how do I put that on my taxes if

Question

I DO NOT make enough to itemize

Answer 1

Easy.  You don't.  And you wouldn't even if you DID have enough itemized deductions to itemize, assuming that you were properly sponsoring a registered charity; the people making the donations would get the deductions.

But seeing as you put the terms "donations" and "charitable" in quotations, I'm going to further assume that you're just raising money for yourself or someone who isn't a registered charity and in THAT case, the money you raise is TAXABLE INCOME to YOU.  Show it on line 21 of Form 1040, Other Income.

Bona-fide gifts are not taxable to the recipient, but once you ASK for them, it becomes "begging income" and THAT is fully taxable.

Answer 2

If you *throw* a house party and people give you donations, that has nothing to do with charity. It's just people giving you a gifts. Gifts are not taxable income so you don't need to report them at all.

Please don't insult your guests' intelligence by trying to make them believe that they're making a charitable contribution if you're the one who's going to be pocketing all the money.