As we’ve mentioned before, it’s always a good idea to clean out your closets and donate your unwanted items to charity in order to get a charitable deduction. Although most of us know about donating our unused stuff to Goodwill or Salvation Army, here are some additional charities to consider:
- If you have women’s business suits and other professional attire, there is Dress for Success, a nonprofit organization that provides professional attire to low-income women for job interviews.
- Do you or your daughter have prom or other formal dresses hanging in the closet? Find a local drop off at DonateMyDress.org.
- Who doesn’t have some old glasses lying around? Give the Gift of Sight would love to have them! Drop off old glasses at many eyeglass outlets or the Lions Club, who will clean and repair the glasses for donation to those in need.
- If you have recently built or remodeled your home, and have leftover building materials, take them to the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
- Donate your old kid’s DVDs to a local children’s hospital.
- So you just upgraded to the latest iPhone or Droid—give your old cellphone to Cell Phones for Soldiers and support our military!
- An old car or other vehicle can be donated to various local charities, such as St. Vincent de Paul Village or other charitable organizations. Remember, you can only deduct the amount for which the vehicle is ultimately sold, which will be reported to you on Form 1098-C.
- Books and magazines can be dropped off at many libraries, such as the Carlsbad City Library.
- Old computer equipment can be donated to the National Cristina Foundation.
- If you’re planning a trip to a foreign destination, consider taking supplies for charities at your destination. For more information go to Pack for a Purpose.
Once you made a donation, make sure that you get a receipt. However, it is up to you to determine the fair value of the items that you donated. A good place to assist you in determining this value is at the TurboTax® ItsDeductiblewebsite. Also miles driven on behalf of a charitable cause can be deducted at $0.14 per mile, but be sure to log the exact miles and qualified charitable cause. Following is a chart of how to document and substantiate various noncash charitable contributions:
|
Amount |
Documentation |
Substantiation |
| Property donation greater than $250 and not more than $500 | Contemporaneous written acknowledgment | Name of charity, date, amount paid, and description (but not value) of goods or services provided by the charity |
| Property donation greater than $500 and not more than $5000 | Written acknowledgement | All of the above, plus:
Must file Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions |
| Donation of $5,000 or more excluding stock, certain works of art, and autos | Qualified appraisal | Attach appraisal to return and complete page 2 of Form 8283 |
| Donations of art valued at $20,000 or more | Signed appraisal and photograph | Attached signed appraisal to return and provide photograph of sufficient quality and size to fully show object if requested by the IRS |
| Stock of publicly traded corporation | No appraisal required if as of date of the contribution market quotations are readily available on an established securities market | Attach Form 8283 to return |
| Nonpublicly traded stock | Contribution greater than $5,000 and less than or equal to $10,000 | A partially completed appraisal summary: complete Form 8283, Part I |
| Vehicle, boat, and airplane with value of more than $500 | Value is the lesser of the gross sales proceeds or the FMV of the vehicle if no “significant use or material improvement” | Taxpayer needs contemporaneous written acknowledgement from donee organization; donee organization must use Form 1098-C to report value of vehicle donations, if vehicle is sold; this can be used to provide acknowledgement to the donor |
Hopefully these ideas will inspire you to clean out and donate your unused stuff. Remember to document your donation, and enjoy your additional closet space!
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash
