Vehicle donation?

snow2

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Anyone donate their vehicle over the years for a tax credit?Gotta dump my dad's mercury I bought him in 2002 to pull his 16' lund.he needed a rear wheel drive as his 1986 chevy was spent for long hauls to canada on fishing trips.

pro's con's for donation? curious for input.
 


Allen

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It surely is something to consider if you are fond of a particular charity that accepts them.

As far as the pros and cons outside of the touchy feely reasons, you are primarily limited to the tax benefits. Maybe a tax professional will weigh in on this, but in general most charities will be generous with respect to the "value" of the vehicle. As in they will give you a receipt for a $1,000 donation for a vehicle that's maybe worth $500 resale. I don't know if you can claim the deduction though if you don't itemize on your tax return, again a question for a tax person. If you are in a position to claim the charitable donation, it will probably increase your tax return by whatever your marginal tax rate is multiplied by the value the charity gives you on the donation.

In general though, you would probably be money ahead just selling it.
 

snow

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Anyone donate their vehicle over the years for a tax credit?Gotta dump my dad's mercury I bought him in 2002 to pull his 16' lund.he needed a rear wheel drive as his 1986 chevy was spent for long hauls to canada on fishing trips.

pro's con's for donation? curious for input.
Well we'll see what my tax man will do with my donation,old car book value $100,VA gave me a recpt for $3500...yippee being single with few deductions this will surely help.
 

sl1000794

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I donated a pickup in the early 2000's and was able to put my own amount for the tax deduction, but I heard that the law had been changed and you could only deduct the value that the vehicle sold for. Long time ago - not sure what the laws are now. Tax people should know.
 


Bobkat

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I think it depends on what kind of vehicle you donate. The IRS allows you to donate the vehicle for its aPpraised value. I’m not sure how they come up with a fair market price for autos, but I knew a guy who donated a back hoe to some organization and got a bit more than fir value for it. In any case, a letter from someone familiar with selling what you are donating usually suffices, unless you get into exotic stuff.
A few years ago, realizing I’m getting old, I donated a real nice basic trainer airplane (C-150) to Bis State College/Bis high for their aviation training program. It now gives me a good feeling to see it flying over our place on downwind for runway 31 at Bis. Beginning to turn out future airline pilots and at least one Air Force pilot in training!
That’s beside the point, but there are special rules to donate something “different” like an airplane. Took me over two years to do it. The IRS required an appraisal from a “professionally trained aircraft appraiser” to establish a fair market value for it! Fair enough but where in this area can you find one? I had letters from several aircraft sellers around the country pretty well all agreeing on a fair market value, but IRS wouldn’t accept any or all. After a few years we finally got an OK to be a good citizen but had to do it in a roundabout way. A real PITA but finally got it done.
Best thing is to consult with your accountant. Anything unusual you may have to be prepared for fees from accountants, attorneys, appraisers,etc. but autos I believe are straight forward.
As Allen says, you probably don’t come out financially too much (depends on your income etc) but to donate something to some IRS approved organization that they really need or can really use, gives you a bit of a good feeling.
 

snow

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I think it depends on what kind of vehicle you donate. The IRS allows you to donate the vehicle for its aPpraised value. I’m not sure how they come up with a fair market price for autos, but I knew a guy who donated a back hoe to some organization and got a bit more than fir value for it. In any case, a letter from someone familiar with selling what you are donating usually suffices, unless you get into exotic stuff.
A few years ago, realizing I’m getting old, I donated a real nice basic trainer airplane (C-150) to Bis State College/Bis high for their aviation training program. It now gives me a good feeling to see it flying over our place on downwind for runway 31 at Bis. Beginning to turn out future airline pilots and at least one Air Force pilot in training!
That’s beside the point, but there are special rules to donate something “different” like an airplane. Took me over two years to do it. The IRS required an appraisal from a “professionally trained aircraft appraiser” to establish a fair market value for it! Fair enough but where in this area can you find one? I had letters from several aircraft sellers around the country pretty well all agreeing on a fair market value, but IRS wouldn’t accept any or all. After a few years we finally got an OK to be a good citizen but had to do it in a roundabout way. A real PITA but finally got it done.
Best thing is to consult with your accountant. Anything unusual you may have to be prepared for fees from accountants, attorneys, appraisers,etc. but autos I believe are straight forward.
As Allen says, you probably don’t come out financially too much (depends on your income etc) but to donate something to some IRS approved organization that they really need or can really use, gives you a bit of a good feeling.
Been a long time bobk, good to see your back.

Yeah,all I had to do is print a Kelly blue book figure then my local car dealer wrote up a market value which superseded kkb by a couple $1000,lack of new and used vehicles today has driven retail prices sky high,bad time to purchase new or used vehicles.
 

Snapper

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I donated my 2001 Audi A6 last spring To Veterans. Got an email receipt from them of $1,150. They sell at auction. Thought it was worth more than that but I didn’t care much just wanted help some Veteran out. I am a Veteran as well. Wel‘ll see if it makes any difference on my taxes this year after filing.
 

Allen

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When I donate, I don't usually give a darn what the tax implications are for me. Because...well, I just always seem to get eff'ed when it comes to taxes.
 

Retired Educator

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My experience is that unless you can itemize instead of taking the standard deduction you won't gain anything with charitable donations. The biggest plus with a charitable donation is the good feeling you get from helping someone you most likely don't know. As mentioned already, a tax accountant is your best choice for tax questions.
 


BrokenBackJack

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We quit donating items to charities, that turn around and sell the items.
Instead we donate to the homeless or a needy person or family.
We want people to be able to use what we give them and not cost them anything.
Some people put themselves in their bad positions, but most have fallen on hard times and just need a helping hand. I'll tell you what, when a needy person doesn't have socks and their shoes are literally shot, when you give them socks and shoes most will cry like little babies, because you have blessed them with something they need. Your heart will feel much better too and you aren't doing it for recognition either.
We take far too much for granted in our lives.
We were talking many years ago and one of the truck drivers that was waiting to unload his barley, said something about $50 or $100 dollars wasn't much money. I agreed with him and said it isn't if you have it, but if you don't it is a ton of money.
Getting off course, so will end it here.
 

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