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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Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a senior writer and web content consultant with 20 years of experience.
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