I'm looking to donate alot of stuff to the salvation army,during tax time what will i get back for what i dona

Question

for example, salvation army says $20 for a good condition childs snowsuit, does that mean that i will actually get back $20 for each snowsuit i donate when i get my tax return?

Answer 1

No it doesn't. It maxes out at five hundred dollars per year, with you being the judge of the value.

Answer 2

No, - what you give to the Salvation army you can assign values to based on what they will sell it for.  Then, whatever the total is you get to deduct that off of your gross income before calculating the tax you owe.

So, if you donate $500 worth of stuff and your adjusted gross income puts you in the 15% tax bracket then you would save about $65 by having donated $500 worth of stuff to the Salvation Army.

Note also, that if you donate more than $500 worth of stuff (that isn't cash), then you have to fill out another form of some sort - and I'm guessing it increases your chances of being audited, in which case the IRS would want to see some sort of documentation to show what you've given and how you accessed the value.

Answer 3

You can make an itemized list and the reasonable worth of each item.  Have them verify it.  However, you won't get that exact amount back on your return.  Also, you can't claim it until 2009 since you will have donated in 2008.  You would have had to have donated in 2007 for it to make a difference on this years taxes.