Need ans. for DONATE a car to Church/rec. a BB value contrib.?

Question

I am an ord minister. but am poor as heck. I want to know if anyone would get in trouble for donating cheap econo car and reciving a voucher for full BB top end price on their taxable contribution?? I am not a reg non profit

Answer 1

You can take the value of a donated vehicle, up to $500, off your taxes. If the charity sells the car for more, they should notify you and you can then take the actual selling price as a donation.

The only exception to this is if the charity keeps the vehicle for their own use, and certifies this to you! In that case you can still take book (or actual retail) value as your deduction!

Examples:

You donate a car. The charity sells the car for $250.00 at auction. You can take the actual retail value of the car up to $500 as your deduction!

You donate a nice car. The charity sells the car for $2000.00 at auction and notifies you of the amount of the sale. You can take a $2000.00 tax deduction!

You donate a car. The charity decides to keep the car and register it in the name of the charity. They use it in the normal course of business. You can take the retail value (book value) as the deduction.

The tax deduction is only allowed if the donation is to a 501c3, registered charity. You can not take the deduction if you donate it to any other group or individual!

Answer 2

The IRS Really cracked down on donating cars to charities. They don't allow a simple blue book value to be reported anymore. You have to be able to show what the vehicle actually sold for and that is the most you can deduct.

Not being a non-profit yourself, you would probably have to have them donate to your church (which is a non-profit). and have them list the car as being used for/by the church. You may be able to get them a better appraisal that way to take off their taxes.