Automobile donation tax deduction info

If you itemize your tax returns each year, and wish to donate your car to charity, you can file for automobile donation tax deduction. Here are some points to keep in mind when you are seeking a charity to donate a car. Tax Deduction rules from the IRS state that the amount you can claim in your tax returns is the gross value achieved for the vehicle when it is sold at auction.

As the automobile donation tax deduction is reliant on the gross price achieved from the sale, try to select a charity that specialises in selling the vehicles it receives in the retail market, as obviously, cars that are sold off wholesale will achieve a lower price. Naturally, the charity will try hard to ensure your vehicle attains the best price – as it is in their best interests to obtain the valuable funding for their good cause – and they will be aware the automobile donation tax deduction is of benefit to the donor too.

Automobile Donation Tax Deduction – Who should you contact about your car?

If you do not have a specific charitable cause in mind for your car donation, you can ask any charity pick-up service or agency that collects on behalf of various charities exactly what will happen to your vehicle and what they endevour to do to achieve the best price at sale. There are contact details of many such agents on the web, and they usually say on their website which US States they cover for charity car collection.

Many charities and agents state they will do their best to get close to Blue Book private sale price, which will effect how much you can claim on your tax returns.

To read more on automobile donation tax deduction, the Internal Revenue Service provides guidelines on their website, along with the latest information on regulations. See the IRS website

IRS Publication 4303 – A Donors Guide To Car Donations

IRS Publication 561 – Determining The Value of Donated Property
 If you are unsure about the automobile donation tax deduction benefits you could achieve, contact your tax preparer or CPA for advice.
As a guide; if you know your tax bracket and know you are in a taxable position when you complete your returns for the year end, you can apply the following calculations to get an idea of your possible deduction.
Multiply the value of your vehicle by your tax bracket - so, if your donated car was sold by the charity and they inform you of the gross proceeds raised; you multiply that by your tax bracket.
For example: $2,000.00 multiplied by 0.28 equals a $560.00 deduction

Automobile Donation Tax Deduction – Tax Bracket

As you can see, automobile donation tax deduction is worth the effort, and a  charity will welcome the boost to their fund raising. Everyone wins!

Automobile Donation Tax Deduction