Donating A Car To Charity
Donating A Car To Charity: Doing charity is an extremely self-rewarding activity; these days you do not have to have an abundance of money to contribute and give back to the society. If you have an old car, rather than indulging in the tiresome process of selling it to a dealership you can avail any of the various car-donating programs. In addition to making the process simpler for you, it can serve as a huge tax deduction on your income tax return as well.
You should just be mindful of a few simple tips.
- Operational Use–Make sure that the charity you are donating to uses the carfor operational purposes rather than for further sale. This will allow your tax deduction amount to be calculated from the fair market value of the car and not the sale price.
- Donation Receipt– If you are to declare a tax deduction, it is imperative that you have proof of donating the car to charity. So make sure you have a donation receipt to show to any auditory or regulatory authorities.
- Independent Appraisal– You should get an independent appraisal done on your car to know the worth of your contribution. Once the appraisal is done, you should ask the charity to provide a written acknowledgment verifying the donation and the value of the car.
- Tax Exempt Charity– Check beforehand that you donate to a charity that has been given tax-exempt status by the IRS. Otherwise, you will not have the option to declare your car donation as a tax deduction. Tax-exempt charities are issued a “letter of determination” by the IRS; it can be checked before making the donation.
- Direct Donation– You should try to donate the car directly to the charity by driving it there. Not only will it give you a sense of achievement but involving a third party for delivery can incur extra costs to either you or the charity.
Keeping in mind these few pointers, you can benefit yourself and the community. For the best and fastest way for car donation, highly secure and accessible car donating programs are available.