Car Donation Programs: Look Before You Donate

By Billy Edward


Hundreds of charities have begun to adopt automobile donation programs as a method to raise funds or to provide themselves with no-cost vehicles to assist operate their programs. But rather than managing the automobile donation programs themselves, they'll frequently turn to fundraising organizations to actually handle the donation and auctioning of the vehicles. And that policy can mean a issue for you.

If you run an Internet search on car donation programs, you will get hundreds of hits from fundraisers who claim that they'll let you choose from among a group of charities to which the proceeds of one's car's sale, of not the automobile itself, will go. And they'll give you the paperwork you need to claim your automobile donation as a charitable deduction on your IRS return.

Taking Advice From The IRS

But the IRS itself, in recent years, has become alarmed in the proliferation of car donation programs run by fundraisers which wind up keeping the bulk of the proceeds they obtain for donated cars. The IRS recommends that it you're considering any of the automobile donation programs, you contact the individuals running it and get a clear answer as to whether they're charity officials, or private group acting for the charity.

In the event you find that they are a private group operating the automobile donation programs of a number of charities, discover out precisely what they plan to do using the car you donate. Will the automobile be repaired and given towards the charity to assist in its work? Or do the fundraisers intend to auction the automobile off and if so, just how much of the proceeds will go towards the fundraisers, and how much towards the charity? For more information see http://www.1cardonationservices.com/Articles/Car_Donation_Services.php on Car Donation Services.

Automobile donation programs which cannot, or won't, give you clear answers to these questions are not those on which you can depend to see that your ca, or the cash it brings gets, towards the charity of one's choosing. And if the charity does not directly receive the automobile or its value, you don't have the proper to claim the value of the car as a deduction.

Legitimate automobile donation programs greatly simplify the procedure of connecting you having a charity which will benefit from your gift. But it is your responsibility to research the various car donation programs in you area and make sure that as much a feasible of your car's value will be channeled to the charity, and that the charity itself is 1 recognized by the IRS. Otherwise, your well-intended automobile donation might turn into a big problem at tax time, when you try to take an unwarranted deduction!






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