NFT: Clothes Donation - Tax Deduction

donated items, you put a value on them and they are deductable

and put value, they give you guidelines

The rest are bogus. You will get the tax deduction but those bins are for profit companies. So your clothes end up being free merchandise

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There is a Salvation Army right near me. Are there different types? Do they all take clothes and sell clothes? I tried calling but they are closed on Saturdays.

This is all I can find about it.
Disaster Services
Food & Nutrition Programs
Seasonal Services
Worship Services - Children's / Teen
Worship Services - Church
Christian Education
Men's Ministries
Music & Arts Programs
Worship Services - Sunday School
Women's Ministries
Worship Services - Young Adult
Worship Services - Youth Ministries
Community Recreation Programs

and I go online and schedule a pickup they come to the house and leave me a blank receipt. I write in the date on the receipt and staple the list to it and file it for tax purposes.

I have a list (really my wife does) of everything we donated on that date and the condition and then come tax time using Turbo Tax they have a place where you input each item you donated the condition and the date and they handle the tax deduction.

It actually adds up to a decent deduction, so besides simply being charitable like we are, I try and make sure to schedule a quarterly pickup with them because the tax deduction is a big incentive.

a receipt if you ask for one, and they just leave it blank for you to fill out the details.

The charity will give you a receipt but you set the value. $25 a bag is about right.

you must have a list that briefly describes each individual item (what it is, color, size, condition), with each one priced at what it is worth in a retail sale, which isn't much. A few dollars per garment is tops, and that's only if they are in good condition or better. Bag pricing is not going to pass an audit.

Some places will have lists of approximate values for you to use. The Salvation Army is probably your best resource for this, and they are certainly worth supporting.

AmVets will also give you a receipt. We donate to them all of the time.

size or retail price - most tax software (like I said above I use Turbo Tax) will calculate the value for you based on the item and condition.

You just need a list of items and their condition. For example:

girls t-shirt (good condition): 10
girls summer dresses (excellent condition (we only use this for unused tags still on)): 4

Girls Winter Coat (fair condition): 3


Boys jeans (good condition): 4 pairs

Men's dress shirt (fair condition): 5

that's it, you do not need color, size, or retail price for an IRS audit.

Also, most of these places like Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Salvation Army don't only take clothes they take old toys, DVDs, books, small furniture. etc.

We always used those places as we turned over the kids toys (that survived in quality condition), books, DVDs, etc. and those are all tax deductible if donated.

Rule of thumb is ten percent of original value

If you have a deduction of $200 for clothes, its nbd. If you try to deduct 5K, then that could kick out an audit depending on your salary

Gives you a dollar range, I usually pick an amount in the middle of the range.

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I usually take the standard deduction

charitable organizations will give you a receipt. Come tax time, you can use a calculator to determine the tax value of the goods. Most tax programs will have one built in, or you can look online and find them. Here's one from Goodwill. Not completely comprehensive, but there are others out there that are more detailed.
Charitable Calculator - ( New Window )

In comment 13551123 twostepgiants said:

Quote:

I usually take the standard deduction

you need to itemize.