Who here donates and uses the tax deduction

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Who here donates and uses the tax deduction

Posted: 8/22/2006 10:25:37 PM EDT

It seems like I'm going to Goodwill a few times a year taking stuff I don't need and donating it. (I think getting married started this.

)

Anyway, I have found I am really undercutting myself. I've been claiming a buck here or there for things. After some research I found I can claim more. They said for clothes and household goods use thrift store prices. So instead of a buck I can value it at $5. Not much but I donated over $500 (my value) worth of stuff last year and it looks like I could have valued it at maybe three times that.

I keep very good records. I write down everything that goes and I put a dollar value next to it and then get a reciept from Goodwill.

Posted: 8/22/2006 10:28:54 PM EDT

[#1]

That's the only reason I donate to Goodwill.

Posted: 8/22/2006 10:32:54 PM EDT

[#2]

It's a win-win situation. You get a tax deduction (assuming you itemize your deductions) and hopefully the stuff you donate will go to someone who will make good use of it.

Didn't Bill Clinton write off something like 5 bucks each for his old underwear when he was Governor of Arkansas? Heck, he could probably make more money nowadays selling his old drawers on eBay.

Posted: 8/22/2006 10:43:38 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
It seems like I'm going to Goodwill a few times a year taking stuff I don't need and donating it. (I think getting married started this.

)

Anyway, I have found I am really undercutting myself. I've been claiming a buck here or there for things. After some research I found I can claim more. They said for clothes and household goods use thrift store prices. So instead of a buck I can value it at $5. Not much but I donated over $500 (my value) worth of stuff last year and it looks like I could have valued it at maybe three times that.

I keep very good records. I write down everything that goes and I put a dollar value next to it and then get a reciept from Goodwill.

I use Turbo-Tax to do my taxes. They now include "It's Deductable", a program that helps you value your donations.

Posted: 8/22/2006 10:56:59 PM EDT

[#4]

We started claiming everything this last year afterw e were hit with a huge tax bill the year before when we hadn't thought to get any receipts for the 13 bags of clothing thatw ent to the salvation army, the ten boxes of books to the library book sale, etc. Our accountant friend helped us out by claiming as much as we could without receipts, but last by comparison year we were really careful about getting receipts for everything and had a 2K refund because of our efforts.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Who here donates and uses the tax deduction

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