Where to Donate Your Car – Best Car Donation Tax Deduction Tips

If you have a car that you think would give you a good tax write off you may be wondering where to donate your car. You can deduct up to $500 according to the newest tax law. Check with your tax accountant or CPA to see if this has changed if you decide to go ahead. First of all you want to make sure you have a car that can be donated.

There are a few ways to determine that. In general your vehicle must be drivable. If not drivable and just needs minor repairs it may still qualify depending on the car donation charity. The condition of the car makes a lot of difference.

Vehicles that can be donated include, cars, trucks, RVs, boats, motorcycles, ATVs, airplanes, etc. Just about any vehicle can qualify for donation. Charities will need to be able to put your car on their own car sales lot or the car sale lot of a car donation charity broker that they hire.

Once you determine that your car, truck or other vehicle. is in good enough condition to be donatable you’ll want to think about where you can donate it that will be best for you,

There are dozens of car donation programs advertising on the Internet. And of course you’ll find them advertising in your local papers. But the thing to know is that many local and national charities hire car donation brokers to handle their donations. These companies take a big chunk of the profit. You want to be aware of this, because the charity won’t be getting all of the profit, if that’s important to you. You may just be more interested in getting the tax donation deduction.

The best way to avoid the large brokers is to find out what local organizations are accepting car donations. You can watch for advertisements or even call charities you think have these programs. You want to ask them if they handle the sales of your car in-house or if they farm it out to a company that does that for them.

Many charities choose to keep some vehicles to help transport patients, clients or goods. Or they may decide to give a vehicle to a disabled or needy client. If any of this matters to you check this out with the charity as to how they’ll use the car.

Car donation programs include: Target Car Donation Program, Goodwill Industries Car Donation program, Kidney Foundation, Make A Wish Foundation and many, many others. You’ll find a lot of smaller charities too. If you’re not familiar with the charity check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure the charity is credible.

If you have favorite charities call them to see if they accept donations. This would be the way to start. Check online to see where to donate your car and what car donation companies are advertising and check out their websites or call them up to find out how to donate your car including all the qualifications for the car and what you need to know. All of these companies will supply you with the proper forms for donation. You’ll need to get the income tax forms yourself. You should check with your CPA or accountant to make sure you’ll benefit by the donation.