When donating a vehicle, you want to make sure that you are giving your vehicle to a charity that is reputable, and will be using your vehicle for good reasons. There are a lot of choices of charities that you can donate your vehicle to, and choosing one can be difficult because of the large amount of charities that are available to you. You also want to make sure that you will be able to claim a tax-deduction after you donate your vehicle to certain charities. Luckily, there are many ways to look into charities that you can donate your vehicle to. Doing your homework on all of these charities is easier than ever, and will get you the results that you need.
The first thing you will want to do is make sure that the charity you want to donate your vehicle to will take vehicles as a form of donation. Some charities do not take vehicles, while others do. When you are looking at websites for charities, they will usually have a list of the items that they do and do not accept. You can start your search here. If the charity you are looking into donating your vehicle to does not have a list of items that they accept, you can also call them to see if they will accept your vehicle.
If you are looking to get a tax deduction from your donation, you will have to look into certain charities. Many charities have great causes, and their company is legitimate in its donation services, but some of them are not approved by the IRS for tax-deductible donations. Most times you will want a non-profit type of charity to donate your vehicle to. If you are unsure if the charity you want to donate your vehicle to will have a tax-deductible option on your donation, you can ask the charity itself, or you can look online at various IRS websites. One of the easiest ways to see if a charity is non-profit is to see if they have a 501(c) status. This means that they are non-profit, and your donation will most likely be tax-deductible.
Each different charity will have different reasons for needing a vehicle donation. Sometimes, they will use the vehicle for their own charity. Reasons for this may be transportation of employees, or for people to go and pick up donations at donator’s homes that are unable to bring the donation to the charity center. Other times, the charity will sell the vehicle themselves. The way that a charity uses your vehicle is important for two different reasons. You may support the way the charity is going to use your vehicle. If that is the case, then you should not donate to them. Another reason is, depending on the way the charity uses the vehicle, you will get a different amount on your tax deduction. If a charity sells the vehicle you donate to them, you will get the deduction on the amount that they sold the vehicle for, even if the amount is under fair market value. If the charity is using the vehicle for their own purposes, you will be able to get a tax deduction on the fair market value of the vehicle.
No matter what charity you decide to donate your vehicle to, you are donating to a very good cause, and to a person in need. You want to make sure that when you donate a vehicle that you are donating to a cause that you see fit, and one that you know will put your vehicle to good use.