For the first time in years, almost everyone who fills the La Mirada Theatre for a free concert can deduct a gift to the orchestra on the stage. Here’s how the new charitable deduction for 2026 works, and why this might be the year the Symphony makes your list.

On the night of October 22, the house lights at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts went down on a crowd of hundreds. The orchestra tuned, Alan Mautner raised his baton, and Stage to Screen: The Phantom of the Opera came roaring to life in front of an audience that had walked in without buying a ticket, because there were no tickets to buy. Some people in those seats were hearing a live symphony orchestra for the first time in their lives. Others have been coming for years and could probably tell you where they sat in 1998.

That has been the deal since 1964. The La Mirada Symphony plays, the community listens, and nobody pays at the door. It’s a generous arrangement and a rare one in Southern California, and it works for one reason: people who love the music decide to cover the cost for everyone else. In a very real sense, our donors are our box office.

This year, those donors picked up an unexpected co-star. It’s the federal tax code, which is not usually known for its sense of drama.

The Plot Twist Nobody Saw Coming

For most of the last decade, giving to a charity like ours came with a quiet catch. After Congress roughly doubled the standard deduction in 2017, the large majority of American households stopped itemizing their taxes, and anyone who doesn’t itemize got no federal tax benefit for a charitable gift. You could give generously, and the IRS would politely look the other way.

That changed with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025. Starting with the 2026 tax year, people who take the standard deduction can deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts to qualifying charities, or up to $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. The IRS has already published a guide to the new deduction for non-itemizers, and it applies to the returns you’ll file in early 2027. It’s what accountants call an “above-the-line” deduction, which is tax language for good news: it comes on top of your standard deduction rather than replacing it, as the law firm Taft explains in its 2026 outlook. And unlike earlier versions, this one is permanent.

There’s a precedent, and it suggests people will use it. During the pandemic, a temporary version of this break let non-itemizers deduct up to $300, and nearly 30 percent of standard-deduction filers took advantage of it, according to Tax Foundation figures reported by Kiplinger. The new version is more than three times bigger and isn’t going anywhere.

↑ Back to Inside the Feature

Why This Matters for a Free Orchestra

Look around the theatre on any concert afternoon and you’ll see the households this rule was made for. Our audience is made up of neighbors, families and longtime music lovers, most of whom take the standard deduction and, until this year, got nothing back from the IRS for supporting the music they love. Now they do.

Here’s what that looks like in real numbers. Say you and your spouse file jointly and land in the 22 percent federal tax bracket. If you give $1,000 to the La Mirada Symphony this year, you’ll save roughly $220 on your federal taxes. The orchestra receives the full $1,000, and the gift costs you closer to $780. Give $2,000 and the savings double. It’s not quite a free lunch, but for a free concert series, it’s a pretty good encore.

↑ Back to Inside the Feature

The Fine Print, in Plain English

The new deduction covers cash gifts, which includes checks, credit and debit cards, and PayPal, made directly to a qualifying public charity. The La Mirada Symphony Association is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (Federal ID 94-3223735), so a gift to us counts. Gifts of stock and contributions to a donor-advised fund don’t qualify for this particular deduction, though both remain excellent ways to give, and we’ll get to those in a moment.

Keep your receipt, as you would for any deduction. For any single gift of $250 or more, the Symphony also sends a written acknowledgment, which the IRS requires before you can claim it. If you itemize, your gifts remain deductible as before, with one new wrinkle: starting in 2026, the first 0.5 percent of your adjusted gross income in charitable giving no longer counts toward the deduction. Most importantly, a gift has to be made by December 31 to count on your 2026 return. Everyone’s tax situation is a little different, so check with your tax preparer about yours. We make music, not tax returns, and our accountant would like us to keep it that way.

↑ Back to Inside the Feature

Other Ways to Make Your Gift Go Further

If you’re 70½ or older, the most powerful option may not involve your checkbook at all. A qualified charitable distribution lets you send money directly from your IRA to the Symphony. According to Fidelity’s guide to QCDs, that gift isn’t counted as taxable income, and if you’re 73 or older it counts toward your required minimum distribution for the year. For many retirees, it’s the most tax-efficient way to give, and it takes one phone call to your IRA provider.

If you’re still working, or retired from a large company, check whether your employer matches charitable gifts. Many do, and some match dollar for dollar, which turns your $250 into $500 for the orchestra without costing you another cent. Our Matching Gifts page walks you through how to find out. You can also give appreciated stock, recommend a grant from a donor-advised fund, give in honor or memory of someone, or name the Symphony in your will. All of those options live on our Ways to Give page.

↑ Back to Inside the Feature

Where Your Gift Goes

Here’s something worth knowing about the La Mirada Symphony. Everyone behind the scenes is a volunteer, from the board of directors to the people greeting you in the lobby, so your gift goes to the music rather than to an office. This year we’re focused on investing in the professional musicians who make these concerts worth hearing. A gift of $100 sponsors a chair in the orchestra for one concert, and $500 sponsors an entire section. Donors also help us bring young performers to the stage through our student soloist program, giving the next generation of players a real orchestra behind them.

There’s plenty ahead to get excited about. An Afternoon of Chamber Music opens the new year on January 24, followed by Sketches of Spain on March 14 and Beethoven’s mighty Ode to Joy on May 16. Then comes something bigger. The 2027-28 season will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the La Mirada Theatre itself, and we intend to throw it the kind of party a half-century of music deserves. The gifts that come in this December help make that season possible.

↑ Back to Inside the Feature

Make the Music Your Line Item This Year

Every December, people sit down and decide which causes get their year-end gift. It’s a personal choice, and there are plenty of good ones out there. But if the La Mirada Symphony has ever given you a night you still think about, whether it was your first time hearing Beethoven live or the afternoon your kid fell in love with the cello, this is a good year to give one back. The math is friendlier than it has been in a long time, and the orchestra would love to have you in its corner.

You can make your gift on our Support page in about two minutes. Give by December 31 to count it on this year’s taxes. We’ll save you a seat. Technically we save everyone a seat, but you know what we mean.

This article is for general information and isn’t tax advice. Please consult a tax professional about your own situation.

↑ Back to Inside the Feature