-
Step 1
Get the details of your car, truck, motorcycle or other automobile. Mark down all the car details such as year, make, model, condition, types of damages, mileage, etc. You will need to refer to this information if you want to make an automobile charitable donation.
-
Step 2
Auctioning off the car and giving the proceeds to charity is one option for automobile charitable donations. This process can be complicated depending on the auction type. You also are not guaranteed that the car will sell for your minimum bid price. Also, you tend to get lower tax deductions when auctioning off a car because the value is set at the price the automobile sold for instead of the fair market value. This can be a good option though if your car is in bad shape and you want to get rid of it in a hurry and are not concerned about how much money you will make from it.
-
Step 3
If your car is in good shape, then the best option is to give the automobile to a charity that will actually use the car. This way, the amount your tax deduction will be based on is the fair market value of the car instead - which can be higher than the auctioned off price. Note that the fair market value can be lower than you would expect. See article references below for a good Ehow article on how to determine fair market value for your automobile.
-
Step 4
In order to get your tax deduction for the automobile charity donation, be sure that the charity you are giving to is a registered charity for tax deductions. The charity or non-profit organization must have a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
-
Step 5
Make sure to keep your receipt and any other paperwork related to donating your automobile to charity. You will need these to file for your tax deduction.
-
Step 6
Go to an accountant who is familiar with charitable tax deductions. You will need an accountant because figuring out exactly how much you can deduct for the auto charity donation is complicated and based on various factors.
