How do you determine the value of donated clothing/household items for tax deduction purposes?
April 12th, 2010I’m donating some clothes and other items to charity. I will ask for a reciept. But in the past when i have been given a reciept, its very non-specific and might have check boxes that say "2 bags of women’s clothes" or "furniture-bedroom-large size" or something to that effect. How do i then determine the value of the donated items when i am entering itemized deductions on my taxes?
Replys
Generally you use a "Thrift Shop value" so the link to the Goodwill Industries listing given above is very helpful.
In addition to what was mentioned by ninasgramma… if you are donating $500 or more you need to have a record of what you paid for the item. Again, the spreadsheet works well for this. Just add a column for the purchase price.
There are some commercial packages that are available that walk you through the steps of preparing the necessary information. They go a bit beyond the Goodwill listing by allowing you to state the condition of the property you dontated. By using the property condition (excellent, very good, good, etc.) the software adjusts the price.
Two solutions that I am aware of:
1. An internet site called Charity Deductions.com
http://charitydeductions.com/default.aspx
2. Intuit’s "Its Deductible":
http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax_products/learn_itsdeductible.jhtml
Some charities have a list of the general value that they will place on certain items when they sell them. That is a helpful way to determine the FMV.
Below is a link to a price list published by Goodwill industries. Even if you did not donate to Goodwill, it would be a reasonable estimate of the value of your goods.
You need to list each item donated, perhaps in a spreadsheet. Give the date of each donation and the resale value. The donor will not itemize this for you.
Staple the receipt from the donor onto your spreadsheet printout.
http://www.goodwillsp.org/content/handler.asp?cont_id=62
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