Donating a car - Qs

[qwerty]

Has anyone ever donated their car? Appreciate advice/ lessons learned etc. are there some charities that are better to work with than others? Our car is a clunker at this point and would rather take the tax deduction.

[bakerlady89]

Lurker peeking in.

I donated my car this past year to Wheels for Wishes and it was super easy.

[sfy]

I have. We donated it to the Purple Heart Foundation. I signed the title and left it in the glove compartment along with the keys, car unlocked and parked in the driveway. They picked it up and mailed me a tax receipt. Super easy.

[qwerty]

Sounds easier than I thought. The only thing that sounded discouraging is if they sell the vehicle, it sounds like you don't get that great a tax deduction.

[simpsongal]

Really, easy. We donated it to Heritage for the Blind. I wouldn't recommend them though b/c it took forever to get our paperwork and they seemed cagey about the value (base value of $500 assigned). If your car is dead, they'll take it anyway.

I know NPR is always talking about it too.

[sfy]

Aug 17, 2015 12:01:28 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Really, easy. We donated it to Heritage for the Blind. I wouldn't recommend them though b/c it took forever to get our paperwork and they seemed cagey about the value (base value of $500 assigned). If your car is dead, they'll take it anyway.

I know NPR is always talking about it too.

If I do it again (and I probably will, since I drive my cars just short of the wheels falling off), I will probably go with NPR that time around. 

[LoveTrains]

Aug 17, 2015 12:01:28 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Really, easy. We donated it to Heritage for the Blind. I wouldn't recommend them though b/c it took forever to get our paperwork and they seemed cagey about the value (base value of $500 assigned). If your car is dead, they'll take it anyway.

I know NPR is always talking about it too.

I have no experience on the organization side with taking donated cars, but in general the rule for the organization receiving the donated goods is to NOT assign a value to donated items. The tax receipt should just reference the item and it is up to to the donor to value the item, including getting an appraisal if necessary. 

[UnderProtest]

We donated a car years ago (I think it was Cars for Kidneys or something like that). They sold the car at auction and the person who bought it never registered it so when they got in a hit and run, it came back to us. Apparently there is a very easy form to fill out (we were in NC, but I'm sure every state has one) that we should have filled out saying we sold the car and were no longer responsible. Soooo, make sure to find that form and send it in to the DMV. Otherwise the process was short and simple.

[zelda25]

We donated a car last year and while the actual donation piece was easy, dealing with the tax piece was the biggest flaming pain in the ass ever. We just last week received our refund--6 months after first filing. I say "first" filing because we had to file multiple times because the IRS kept requesting information that we had already provided. Never again.

[qwerty]

Aug 17, 2015 12:31:26 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

We donated a car last year and while the actual donation piece was easy, dealing with the tax piece was the biggest flaming pain in the ass ever. We just last week received our refund--6 months after first filing. I say "first" filing because we had to file multiple times because the IRS kept requesting information that we had already provided. Never again.

oh yikes! What kind of info if you don't mind me asking so I can make sure I have all the things I need.

[zelda25]

Aug 17, 2015 12:48:08 GMT -5 qwerty said:

Aug 17, 2015 12:31:26 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

We donated a car last year and while the actual donation piece was easy, dealing with the tax piece was the biggest flaming pain in the ass ever. We just last week received our refund--6 months after first filing. I say "first" filing because we had to file multiple times because the IRS kept requesting information that we had already provided. Never again.

oh yikes! What kind of info if you don't mind me asking so I can make sure I have all the things I need.

Assuming the charity to which you donate knows what they're doing (likely), you'll receive all the forms you need for your filing. Form 8283 is what you will have to include with your filing. This link has some useful information: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/pub4303.pdf.

Our problem wasn't that we didn't include all the required documentation; it was just typical bureaucratic snafu. There was a lot of conflicting information about whether or not we could file 8283 electronically (we ended up doing electronic AND paper), and then once the IRS had the info, they asked for it again. And again. Getting a warm body on the phone at the IRS is next to impossible, as well. I spent two entire days trying to get through ("Due to increased call volume, we are unable to take your call. Please try again later." Lather, rinse, repeat. And repeat and repeat and repeat). One rep I talked to actually said to me--apologetically--that she could see that they'd received all the documentation, but for whatever reason, they had just stopped working on our file. She couldn't tell me why or when or even if they'd pick it up again; she said the best advice she could give me was to send every thing--AGAIN--via mail with a cover letter explaining the situation and hope that they'd work the file again. It was completely ridiculous.

On one hand, it was worth it because it was a $1700 write off; we would never have been able to just sell that car for $1700. But considering how much time I spent trying to get through all the red tape and then how fucking long it took to get the refund? Nope.

[simpsongal]

Aug 17, 2015 12:12:23 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Aug 17, 2015 12:01:28 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Really, easy. We donated it to Heritage for the Blind. I wouldn't recommend them though b/c it took forever to get our paperwork and they seemed cagey about the value (base value of $500 assigned). If your car is dead, they'll take it anyway.

I know NPR is always talking about it too.

I have no experience on the organization side with taking donated cars, but in general the rule for the organization receiving the donated goods is to NOT assign a value to donated items. The tax receipt should just reference the item and it is up to to the donor to value the item, including getting an appraisal if necessary. 

Interesting.  I thought they were selling or auctioning the car and would tell us the value, but I could have gotten that wrong.  DH set up the donation; I wouldn't be surprised if he got some of the details wrong.

[qwerty]

Aug 17, 2015 13:36:45 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Aug 17, 2015 12:12:23 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I have no experience on the organization side with taking donated cars, but in general the rule for the organization receiving the donated goods is to NOT assign a value to donated items. The tax receipt should just reference the item and it is up to to the donor to value the item, including getting an appraisal if necessary. 

Interesting.  I thought they were selling or auctioning the car and would tell us the value, but I could have gotten that wrong.  DH set up the donation; I wouldn't be surprised if he got some of the details wrong.

this is what I understood too. From what I've read you can no longer assign your own value to the car. Maybe some organizations have a loophole or something but it sounded like you can claim the amount it sells for.

[zelda25]

Aug 17, 2015 13:36:45 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Aug 17, 2015 12:12:23 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I have no experience on the organization side with taking donated cars, but in general the rule for the organization receiving the donated goods is to NOT assign a value to donated items. The tax receipt should just reference the item and it is up to to the donor to value the item, including getting an appraisal if necessary. 

Interesting.  I thought they were selling or auctioning the car and would tell us the value, but I could have gotten that wrong.  DH set up the donation; I wouldn't be surprised if he got some of the details wrong.

That's how it worked for us. We donated the car, and then after they fixed it and sold it, we got the tax receipt. The sale amount was our deduction (there's a limit on that--$5200 or somewhere around that number, I believe). I double-checked KBB to make sure the sale amount wasn't out of line with the KBB value in case the IRS said "WTF" to that amount.

[dirtyred]

Aug 17, 2015 11:24:19 GMT -5 sfy said:

I have. We donated it to the Purple Heart Foundation. I signed the title and left it in the glove compartment along with the keys, car unlocked and parked in the driveway. They picked it up and mailed me a tax receipt. Super easy.

I have donated cars to a kidney charity and goodwill.  This is how it works.  They sell the car at auction and mail you a receipt for the amount it sol for.

[rubytue]

Aug 17, 2015 13:36:45 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Aug 17, 2015 12:12:23 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I have no experience on the organization side with taking donated cars, but in general the rule for the organization receiving the donated goods is to NOT assign a value to donated items. The tax receipt should just reference the item and it is up to to the donor to value the item, including getting an appraisal if necessary. 

Interesting.  I thought they were selling or auctioning the car and would tell us the value, but I could have gotten that wrong.  DH set up the donation; I wouldn't be surprised if he got some of the details wrong.

Nope, you H is right. Car donation is different bc the IRS caught on to PPP donating non-running clunkers and taking KBB private sale excellent value for them.

Wishes for wheels explains it www.wheelsforwishes.org/irs-car-donation-tax-information/