Think about donating your old car to charity.
When you get tired of your old car, there are other options besides trading it in or flat out selling it. You can donate it to help support Breast Cancer awareness, research or treatment. Breast cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in the United States, affecting 1 out of 7 women. Your old car could translate to dollars to support a breast cancer charity, while giving you a tax deduction. To ensure you receive the maximum tax benefit and that as much of the proceeds from the sale of your car go to help breast cancer, here are some simple steps you can follow.
Instructions
1. Ensure that you are able to itemize your deductions on your tax return form. A large majority of tax payers don't itemize their deductions, preferring to take the standard deduction for a variety of reasons. Make sure that itemizing your tax deductions makes financial sense before you decide to donate your car to earn the deduction. You can still donate even if you don't itemize; donate your car as a philanthropic gesture.
2. Identify a breast cancer charity. There are many different groups out there; find one that is reputable and doing work to further breast cancer research, awareness and treatment. Once you have found a charity, make sure that they have a tax exempt status. This can be found by checking the IRS website. There are many national organizations, like the Susan Komen Foundation and the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.
3. Find out what happens to your car once you have donated it. Some non-profits rely on third parties or brokers to sell their donated cars, which conveniently keeps them out of the car sales business, but adds another overhead cost. Determine what percent of the actual sale price of your car will go to support your breast cancer charity. Some of the car brokers are notorious for passing along minimal proceeds to the charities they sell cars for. There are, however, some non-profit groups that accept donated cars and pass along all the proceeds of the sale.
4. Determine the fair market value of the car; this is the amount that the IRS allows you to itemize on your deduction. This value can be obtained from the Blue Book or by looking at area car sale amounts.
5. Contact the recommended car broker and make sure you have the necessary documentation, such as the car's Certificate of Title. There are some programs that will allow you to donate your car without a title. Keep the receipt from your transaction and also keep a picture of your car as a record, incase the IRS audits you in the future.
Tags: breast cancer, breast cancer charity, cancer charity, donate your, donated cars
