How to list goodwill donation?

Question

Another tax question. I just moved and have a lot of clothes and books I have no room for. I considered selling them on eBay or Amazon, and then decided it would just be easier to donate them (to somewhere) and write it off as a donation for a tax deduction. So I have a few questions:

1. Anyone know of a good charity in the Akron OH, area where these things will be put to good use? I'm thinking Goodwill but am open to other options.

2. I know when you donate to goodwill you get a receipt with no dollar amount or anything. Do you just send this in to the IRS and make up a dollar amount?

3. Is there a certain amount of money you have to reach in order to qualify? Some people say 500, some say 250, some say under 500... so which is it?

4. Where on the forms do you write that and how do they verify it?

Anything else you think is useful would also be very appreciated.

Answer 1

You can donate the items to Goofwill or someplace like that.  You'll have to estmiate the current used value of each item you donate - basically that's what the thrift shop would sell them for, and has no relationship to the original cost.  You don't send in the receipt, you keep it and show it to the auditor if you are audited.

You get no tax benefit unless you itemize.  If you itemize, your tax benefit is at most the amount of the deduction times your tax bracket.  For example, if you itemize and the thrift shop value of your donated items is $300 and you are in a 15  percent tax bracket, your tax savings is $300 times .15 or $45.

Answer 2

We donate to Goodwill, the VOA, and other charities.

You need an itemized list for tax purposes. The receipt from Goodwill should be generalized. So when you donate, your receipt might say "Books, 5 boxes paperbacks, 1 box hardcover. Women's clothing. Housewares."

The itemized list for tax purposes will be more like:

Books, paperbacks, 210 @ $1.00 each = $210

Books, hard cover, 20 @ $3 each = $60

Women's shirts, knit, 4 @ $3 each = $12

Women's shirts, woven, 4 @ $4 each = $16

Toaster, working 2-slice, $5

Total your values. Base your prices on approximately what the item would sell for at the thrift store or a garage sale. Essentially, if it's in good shape, it'll retail for about 20% of its value new, except for clothes, which depreciate faster because of fashion.