Non cash contributions can be a great tax deduction, but you may have to do some work to get the deduction. If you donate more than $500 you have to file form 8283 and report information on the charity. Over $5000 can require an appraisal of the items donated and the charity has to sign the 8283.
Valuation can be tricky too. A good rule of thumb is fair market value (your deduction) is 15 to 20% of the original purchase price, with the value going down as it gets older. Items also have to be in good condition (don’t ask me what that means) Here are a couple of links:
Substantiating Non Cash Contributions from IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=123202,00.html
A Valuation Guide from The Salvation Army:
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/0/d477340ffa28755c8525743d0049d1ef?opendocument
And don’t forget mileage: 14 cents a mile, up from 14 cents a mile last year (if never changes except by Congress passing a change: good luck with that).
Tomorrow I will take a couple of days to talk about Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions – the catchall area.
You can count on us to count for you!