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Donating Cars For Charity

Donating Cars For Charity

By Phil J. Smith

So you have decided that you want to donate your car to charity. Now you have to find a charity that fits with your beliefs and values and has the proper non-profit accreditation to be of tax benefit for you. So where should you begin?

The easiest way to get started is by doing a quick search online for a simple term like "car charity" or "car donation". You may also want to add your city or state to the search to get more localized results. Once you have your search results you want to weed through and find the ones that are actual charitable organizations, not just lists or services that will "help" you donate your car.

The reason you want to be overly careful you are dealing directly with a charity organization is that if you go through a middleman your tax deductable amount can be much less, or even non-existent and you will get nothing for giving your car away.

Once you have located charities you are interested in helping call them up directly. There are a few simple questions that you need to ask before signing away your vehicle. Are they interested in taking your make/model/year or car? Is there paper work you need to fill out prior to the donation (the answer should be "yes")? Are they a certified non-profit, and can they provide proof of this? Can they pick up the car at your home or office? What percentage of the cars value goes directly to the charitable work (a good ration is between 70-90%)?

Once you have a charity that you would like to help, and they have answered all of these questions to your satisfaction you are now ready to donate your car. Complete any paperwork that is required and start cleaning out your car. Make doubly sure you have any personal item you want out of the vehicle before it is picked up. When the charity representative shows up to claim the vehicle you will need to turn over the keys and sign over the title, and possibly complete some tax related forms (depending on your state).

Once your car has been picked up you are almost done. Within 30 days of the vehicle's sale the charity will provide you with the final sales price and any additional utility. This is the amount you can use for your car tax write off.

Congratulations taking advantage of charity for cars is a great way to help your local community and give something back. The tax benefits are also very helpful and now you have made room in your garage for a new vehicle which will further stimulate the economy, when done correctly giving your car to charity helps everyone!