About how much money can you get in my income tax return if I donate a car?
I heard, and i’ve seen many advertisings about donating cars even while i’m driving.. the thing is that i have this other car, which needs a few repairs, but i wouldn’t want to spent any more money on it i heard that if you donate your car, you can put that down for your income tax return.. and i was wondering if anybody that have done this before.. about how much money did u got back for it?
August 18th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
You will get a deduction as a charitable contribution for the fair market value of the car, or how much the charity sells the car for.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
You deduct the blue book value from your taxable income.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
hahahahaha, it’s not about the money, it’s a rip.I won’t do it
August 18th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Typically the charity will sell the car at auction and use the money for other projects. They will send you an a statement on the amount it sold for; that is the amount you can use on your taxes, provided you can itemize (schedule A).
My understanding is that you can no longer use blue book, expert opinions/estimates or other such methods for determining the value of a donated car. That is a change that went into place in the past few years.
August 18th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Check on irs.gov for information on car donations.
August 18th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
There is a cap on how much you can deduct from donated items. I think it is in the range of $500. I think a car fits into this category. I donated a few thousand dollars of clothing when my mom died. It wasn’t worth much at tax time.
Cash donations are fully deductable if you itemize. It might be better to sell the car and donate the money if you want to help the charity and get a better tax benefit.
August 18th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
It all depends on your tax bracket and the blue value of the car
I donated a car and received a $700 break
August 18th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
You can used the tax value and a tax deduction – but it is to late to donate for 2006!@~
August 18th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
sounds like you’re probably in the “EZ” zone…donating crap gets you a crap value to claim…if you itemize – which you won’t! …because you’re poor. Unless your donating a car worth $8,500 you won’t beat the $8,450 the Gov is giving as standard deductions for the unwashed…sell it for scrap.
August 18th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
The simple answer is the fair market value of the car. The complications arise in how fair market value is determined. If the charity sells the vehicle, the IRS considers the sale price to be the fair market value. I the charity actually uses the car, you can usually claim the ‘blue book’ or ‘nada’ value. That is basically the published average value of similar vehicles. The cost of needed repairs may reduce the value you can claim.
As the answer above implied, charitable donations are an itemized deduction and only reduce your taxes if you itemize.
August 18th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
THINK YOU’D JUST GET THE CREDIT FOR YOUR TAXES OF THE VALUE OF YOUR CAR, WHICH SOMETIMES ISN’T MUCH. I’VE BEEN THINKING OF THIS TOO.
November 3rd, 2011 at 7:05 pm
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.