subject: Safety Measures To Take While Going For A Vehicle Donation [print this page] When you want to go for vehicle donation, there are a few precautions that you might want to take. This will help you to provide the full value of the vehicle donation to the charity and also get the total benefits of the vehicle donation. When you make a vehicle donation, you get IRS tax deductions for making a charitable contribution. But you can benefit from the vehicle donation, only if you pick a charity that qualifies as per IRS 501(c)(3) to accept a vehicle donation. Although there are plenty of charity organizations that accept vehicle donation you have to pick one that suits your criteria. One of them would be what the charity does with the vehicle that you have donated. It is important to choose a charity that makes it easy for you to claim tax deductions for the vehicle donation.
You have to pick a charity for vehicle donation that can help you with the procedures, right from providing the written acknowledgement to helping out with filling the right IRS forms to claim for tax deductions. When you want to make a vehicle donation, one of the precautions that you need to take is estimate the value of the vehicle before donating it. This is very important as you will have to claim tax deductions equivalent to that amount. Besides, for vehicle donation the form you fill for IRS tax deductions differs with the valuation of the donation. If your vehicle donation is not worth more than $250, a simple written acknowledgement stating that you have not received any goods or services in return for the vehicle will do, while a good faith estimation of the market value of the vehicle will be required if you are claiming deductions for a higher amount.
Another precaution you need to take while making a vehicle donation is filling the right IRS form. Usually you need to fill 1098-C when you request for tax deductions for vehicle donation, but 8283 will have to be submitted for vehicles worth more than $500. For the sake of convenience, some vehicle owners prefer to make vehicle donation to a charity which auctions the vehicle as that would simplify the process. In that case, you need to submit the sale statement of the vehicle sold in the auction. This would be the amount you can directly claim deductions for making the vehicle donation to the charity.
