You help those in need when you make a car donation to charity A car donation services will usually handle your car donation to charity. These services may not be directly involved in charitable activities themselves but may only act as an intermediary for a charitable institution.
Your car donation to charity may be handled in two ways:
- Sold at an auction in which the proceeds go to charitable institutions to be used in their causes
- Used directly charitable institutions in their operations. In any way, a car donation to charity is a great help to those who are in desperate need of assistance.
A car donation to charity will save you from the tedious tasks involved in ditching your car. Car donation services make a car donation to charity as convenient and easy as possible for you. They pick-up your car within 24 to 48 hours after you contact them and handle the necessary paperwork. Moreover, a car donation to charity will also save you from exposure to fraudulent activities. Selling your car will require that you exchange your car for currency but this may not always be the case specifically if the individual you transact with pays you with a bad check. You not only loose your car, you also loose the possible monetary benefit that comes from selling it.
Selling expenses are also one of the things that you avoid with a car donation to charity. When you sell your car, you will have to pay for advertisement or refurbishing to increase the chances of it being sold immediately. With a car donation to charity however, you avoid spending any money. Car donation services accept any type of vehicle in any condition. If they see that donated cars need to be fixed or refurbished for them to be in good running condition, they do so and shoulder the expenses themselves.
A car donation to charity will give you the benefit of a tax break. The federal tax legislation governing car donations will allow you a tax deduction from your car donation to charity. A tax deduction equivalent to the gross sales amount not exceeding $500 is allowed. The gross sales amount is only limited to $500 since cars are usually sold at auctions for $200-$500. However, there may be instances when the allowable tax deduction exceeds $500 and this is when the fair market value is used.
According to the revised tax legislation on car donations, the fair market value of a car donation to charity can be used if improvements are done on the car and when the car is used directly in charitable causes.
With all the benefits you can get from a car donation to charity, it is no doubt one of the wisest decisions to make. It is even better than selling your car. But before you contact a car donation services, you may want to look for a 501 (c) (3) charity organization classification. This classification would ensure that the car donation service has a legal personality.
