The Secretary of the Treasury may accept, for the government, a gift of money or other property to reduce the public debt. § 170(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code allows a deduction for a charitable contribution, payment of which is made within the taxable year, if the contribution is properly verified. The Treasury Department is within the executive branch of the Federal Government, and a payment to the Bureau to reduce the public debt is exclusively for public purposes. Therefore, a payment to the Federal Government to reduce the public debt generally is a charitable contribution.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/12-0060.pdf



