Donating your car for a tax write off?

Greg Amy grega@pobox.com
Wed, 23 Jan 2002 06:43:55 -0600


>>> Has anyone ever donated their car to a charity organization for a tax
write off?

Yes. Visit http://www.donateyourcar.com

>>> If so, how does this process work?

You give your car to an approved charity, they give you a receipt for its
value.

>>> Do you get the full amount back from Uncle Sam?

Nope, you get to deduct its full value from your Adjusted Gross Income.
Depending on your tax bracket, that means your tax bill will drop
approximately 1/3 to 1/4 of the car's value.

The advantages are: the lack of hassle of dealing with selling it; it's an
easy way to make a tax-deductible donation that you were going to do anyway;
and since they'll receipt you for the full blue book value sometimes you'll
get a receipt that's a tad bit higher than what you would have actually sold
it.

A couple of caveats: the IRS watches these transactions closely, so don't
expect to wink and have them write a receipt for $2000. Second, they are
getting very picky about what they'll accept; if you can't sell it, they
can't sell it, so it has no value to them (they don't want to be a car
disposal yard.)

Good luck.

GregA