Tax-time Organizing Help: Donation Valuation

8 January 2010 6 Comments

How much can you deduct for the gently used goods you donate at Goodwill?

Goodwill has a free Goodwill Donation Valuation Guide.

Click here for a downloadable form that will make it easy for you to assess your 2009 donations. While you’re at it, print a second copy to keep track of your 2010 donation amounts and by this time next year, you’ll be ready to tackle your taxes with ease.

Simply yours,

Debbie

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6 Comments »

Mel said:

I work at a non-profit and process donations both monetary AND in-kind and wanted to add a hint about donating goods from my experience.

It is the responsiblity of the donor to value the items most times, so if you want acknowledgement from the agency that you’re donating to, you need to tell them “this is what I value my ….”

Personally, when I have donated old clothing to Salvation Army or another place that accepts clothing, they have given me a blank sheet of paper to write down what I donated and I had to write it before they would sign.

At my place of employment, we send letters to the donors after any kind of donation. If a donor wants to use it for tax purposes, they need to tell us what the value is so we know what to put in the letter.

If audited, it would be better to have some hard proof of your donations’ value than a guess.

# 8 January 2010 at 11:45 am

Debbie Jordan Kravitz (author) said:

I agree with you: the burden of proof is definitely on the tax payer when it comes to reporting donations and any possible audits. To clarify on this post, you should always get a dated receipt from the non-profit for any donation you make.

Like you said, however, agencies and organizations will not help you out with valuation, which is necessary for tax purposes. That’s where this valuation guide helps out.

My advice is to create an itemized list of your donations each time you drop things off to a charity, noting the condition of each item next to it (“new,”good”, “poor”, etc.). I have a donation bag in my closet with a clipboard next to it. Each time I drop an item in the bag, I make a note of it. When the bag is full, off to the Rescue Mission it goes. When I return home, I staple the receipt to my list. Then, using this valuation guide, I can jot down the estimated value of each item. I write the total amount at the bottom. When tax time rolls around I have my figures ready to go.

For specifics, be sure to check with your accountant, or you can check out the irs web site for specific U.s. tax rules and regulations.

Thanks for your input, Mel!

# 8 January 2010 at 2:41 pm

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# 22 January 2010 at 11:37 pm

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# 26 January 2010 at 1:53 pm