Americans reported making donations of $52.8-billion in noncash gifts in 2007, a 12.8-percent increase over the previous year, according to a new report from the Internal Revenue Service.

The figure covers gifts from taxpayers who said they made more than $500 worth of noncash gifts in the year.

The number of tax returns showing noncash donations increased by 12.3 percent, from 6.2 million in 2006 to 6.9 million in 2007.

The biggest shares of noncash contributions, said the report, consisted of corporate stock, clothing, land, and household items.

The IRS said the amount of donations of land increased by $1.8-billion, or 80.3 percent, from 2006 to 2007.

“This increase occurred despite the fact that the number of taxpayers donating land decreased 40 percent from 13,000 in 2006 to 7,800 in 2007,” the IRS said. “The average land donation for these taxpayers increased from more than $170,000 to more than $500,000 per return for 2007.”