Sunday, January 31, 2010

How Can Online Resources Help You Donate a Car?

Selling a car would require you to repair and maintain the car by bearing huge expenses to earn only small benefits. On the other hand you can donate a car to get involved in charity and save yourself from expensive repairs. Tax deduction advantages act as bonus when you consider the old vehicle for donation. Internet is one good medium that can help you make this donation in a time saving manner. Apart from this, there are many more advantages of carrying out this process online. The following discussion will make you familiar with the process of donating a car online.

Selecting the Recipient

Sitting across the computer, you can easily find a good charitable organization or a car donation centre online. In fact, you might come across a full array of organizations that support causes for poor and homeless people, small children and individuals suffering from deadly diseases. Within a limited time period, you can prepare the list of some top organizations that can help you in donating your vehicle.

Online Form Filling

If you select a donation centre, you can consider it a small process to fill the forms online and ask for the services from the car donation centre. These centers act as bridge between the car donors and the recipient charities. Here are some advantages offered by these car donation centers:

• They can suggest you the most popular charitable organizations working for different noble causes.

• Such donation centre provide services like free vehicle pickup and delivery to the recipient charity.

• Repairing and fixing the car is responsibility of these car donation centers.

• They will also aid you in preparing the documents for earning tax deduction advantages after making car donations.

Filling online forms with one of these car donation centers can help you save time and efforts.

Learn about the Organizations Online

In order to make car donation process valuable, it is important to first learn about the organizations you are going to deal with. For this, you would like to learn about their reputation and past records. With the help on online resources, you can easily find a good donation centre in your own region. Getting opinions from the experienced car donors online, you can avoid car donation scams and dealing with unauthorized car donation centers.

Information about Tax Laws

One can also use online resources to find information about tax deduction laws in case of donations made by individuals. You can consult online financial experts to enhance the chances of earning better tax donation advantages. Also, you can discuss with experts about how to evaluate the fair market price of your vehicle. Finding information online will help you tally the facts from various sources and also, to save valuable time.




A number of online car donation centers can be found by searching through search engines, online directories and other valuable resources. One good source of information is available at carshelpingamerica.org, which can help you in donate a car successfully.

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Monday, January 25, 2010

How to Avoid an IRS Audit when Donating a Car to Charity? (Part 1)

Donating an old or little-used vehicle to charity is a win-win idea.

You win because not only you get rid of a clunker for which you pay insurance and registration fees (plus, property tax if you are living in a state like Virginia), but you also earn the right to deduct it from your income tax.

The charity also wins because it gets clear title to an asset that they either sell to create revenue or use it for their daily operations.

Deducting the value of a donated vehicle was easy years ago when most people simply deducted some sort of "fair sales value" of the car or truck from their income taxes, regardless of what the charity did with the vehicle.

All that has changed in 2005. Now, the U.S. Department of Treasury and the IRS have more stringent requirements for deduction, in compliance with The American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA). If you do not comply with these regulations, you might get an IRS audit. So it pays to be careful.

Here are the major items that you should pay attention to:

1) What did the charity do with your donated vehicle? If they sold it, then the actual sales price of the vehicle is also the maximum you can deduct from your taxes.

This means it probably is not a very good idea to donate your vehicle in March or early April because that would not allow enough time for the charity to sell the vehicle. You should give them at least six months to do that. That's why I believe Summer or Fall is a better time to donate your vehicle in order to deduct its sales price from your taxes come following April.

Remember, since most charities sell the donated vehicles at wholesale prices, do not expect to get a "top value" for your vehicle. It is not unusual for a used vehicle to sell for $50 or $100 to a car wholesaler. If that is the case, then you would also be allowed to deduct only $50 or $100 from your income tax.




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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Ms.Smith Dances With the Cars @ Frank Myers Auto in Winston Salem NC 27105

allows me to combine my three passions Dancing With The Stars TV show, my business and helping the American Red Cross ," says Tracy Myers, owner of Frank Myers Auto Maxx. During the month of May anyone who test drives a car will get the opportunity to dance around the vehicle they test drove. Videos will be uploaded to YouTube for the world to judge. The person whose dance garners the most views will win $1000.00 in cash from Frank Myers Auto Maxx on June 6th. It doesn't end there. Tracy Myers ...



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Saturday, January 9, 2010

You Need to Know the Fair Market Value When You Donate a Car to Charity

Although the laws were changed back in 2005 to counteract instances of tax avoidance, it is still possible to claim the "fair market value" of any car, boat, trailer, RV or truck that you donate to a non-profit organization (NPO). However, you do need to make sure that you are determining that "fair market value" according to current legislation.

It is understandable that you should consider that a value quoted by the Kelley Blue Book could be used as a "fair market value" - indeed, many tax professionals also considered this to be the case. However, the IRS has different ideas of the definition to be used.

Many vehicles donated to charities are in a condition that could be fairly described as lower than "poor". Some third party, for profit, agencies were advertising for, and accepting, cars regardless of whether they ran or not. The lucky owner saved on the scrapyard fee, got the car picked up free and then claimed the "fair market value" as a tax deduction. It is estimated that this practice cost the IRS $640 million in 2000.

These practices led to some agents skimming up to 70% off the top of the sale price in "service fees". The difference in the true value soon became apparent when the vehicle was sold, and since most of them ended up on the wholesale market, the difference became even more noticeable.

When using the Blue Book, even a "poor" rating requires the car to be a runner. It is obvious that there was a major difference between what these cars would sell for if an ad was put in the paper, and what was being claimed as a "fair market value".

This led to the laws being changed in 2005. There is now a receipt required for any gift of a value exceeding $250, as well as a written declaration of the amount that the car actually sold for (over $500) or the use that it was put to. This means that if the car is sold as its first use after being donated, you are only permitted to claim the actual amount that the charity realised on the sale of the vehicle.

On the other hand if, instead of being sold, the vehicle is used as is, you may deduct the real market value, determined as the amount you would have got had you actually sold the vehicle instead of donating it. This means that if your car is given to a needy person for their own use, your deduction value could increase many times over.

Further to this, if the car is sold by the charity during the first two years of ownership, the charity will need to send you a Form 8282 letting you know what happened to your donated vehicle. You don't need to change anything on your taxes however.

It is always a good idea to take a range of photographs of the vehicle, both inside and out, to back up any claim that you make. If your vehicle is valued at more than $5000 you will need to get an independent appraisal in writing to back up your claim.

Bear in mind that many people price older vehicles to sell quickly, so take this into consideration what fixing your "fair market value".




If this article has piqued your interest, you can discover a lot more information concerning fair market value and the whole subject of car donations to charity at http://cardonation4charity.com.

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Donate Your Boat to Charity | Pacific Marine Foundation

www.PacificMarine.org - Donate Your Boat to Charity through Pacific Marine Foundation's Boat Donation Programs. Fast and easy, professionally managed boat donations reduce your taxes and help kids!



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Friday, January 8, 2010

How to Avoid IRS Rules and Regulations Violations When Donating a Car to Charity

When donating a vehicle to charity there are certain IRS rules and regulations that must be followed.

First, for vehicle deductions of more than $500 you are required to attach the charity's acknowledgment of receipt to your return for the year of the donation, even if the vehicle is not sold by the charity during that same year. The charity must provide you with that written acknowledgement within 30 days after the vehicle donation. If you receive the charity's written acknowledgment after filing your tax return for that year, you may file an amended return and claim the deduction on the amended return. In that instance you must attach the acknowledgment to the amended return.

Second, the charity's written acknowledgement form must contain the amount of the gross sales proceeds. It is generally this figure that will be used when determining your deduction amount. Please note however that if the charity significantly uses or materially improves the vehicles, they must certify both the vehicles intended use and duration of that use. If the charity does in fact significantly use or materially improve the vehicle, then you may deduct the vehicle's market value as opposed to the gross sales proceeds amount. If you have any questions about this a quick call to the IRS can help.

As a matter of fact, when attempting to calculate the vehicle's market value you should consult IRS publications 526 - Charitable Deductions and Publication 561, "Determining the Value of Donated Property." Remember that when the IRS is considering a vehicle's fair market value it takes into account more than just the book value of the car. It considers other factors, including the vehicle's condition, which could actually lower the book value of the vehicle.

Third, in order to claim a vehicle donation you must itemize your deductions. The decision to itemize your deductions is usually determined by whether your total itemized deductions are greater than the standard deduction afforded to you for that tax year. Your tax preparer can assist you with determining this. If you prepare your own taxes using tax return software, most software programs have guidelines you can consult.

Fourth, make sure that the organization you are dealing with is a legitimate 501 (c) 3 by calling the IRS customer service hotline at 1-877-829-5500 and requesting Publication 78. Publication 78 is an annual government publication that identifies organizations qualified to receive deductible contributions. Changes made between publications can be found online at
http://www.irs.gov/charities, where this is also a list of eligible organizations not listed in Publication 78 and those organizations that have had their tax deduction status revoked. If you don't have time to wait for Publication 78 to arrive in the mail, the folks at customer service can check an organization's status for you over the phone.

In conclusion, though often complicated, IRS rules and regulations regarding charitable vehicle donations are available for the asking. Remember, the only stupid question is the question you fail to ask. When contemplating a vehicle donation program, be sure to protect yourself from future tax audits and potential scams by asking a lot of questions up front and doing your homework.




If you want to donate your car or vehicle to a reputable charity in Minnesota, visit http://wheelsforwishes.org/ or http://vehiclesforveterans.org/

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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Donate Your Unwanted Vehicle and Support WMFE!

Support your favorite public television and radio programs by donating your unwanted vehicle! Instead of selling, trading or storing your vehicle, you can donate your car, truck, motorcycle, boat, recreational vehicle or camper. It's simple and easy to make a contribution that supports WMFE. All you need is a clear title, and we'll take care of the rest, including pick-up, at no cost to you. To donate a vehicle or for more information call: 866-WMFE-AUTO 1-866-963-3288 or complete an online ...



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