How to Donate Your Car

The process of donating a used car or other property has become more streamlined over the past decade or so. The internet has made it much easier for both charitable organizations and individuals to arrange for donations to be made. To begin the process of donating your used auto, you will need to fill out a form on your selected charities website. If your preferred charity doesn't have an inhouse vehicle donation program, then chances are you can make a donation through a third party organization that will share the proceeds of the donation with your favorite charity. Before choosing a company to work with, you should contact your desired charity directly to make sure they don't operate their own vehicle donation program. They may have a company they work directly with that provides the most funds to the organization. Most car donation programs also have a toll free phone number you can call in order to arrange for the donation of your old car or truck.

After contacting the selected charitable organization or filling out the form on their website, you will be contacted either by the charity directly or by a towing company to schedule a time to pick up the car or other vehicle. You should remember that the cost of the towing will generally by taken out of the proceeds from the sale of your donation, so if you can arrange to drop off your donation, the charity will have more funds for their cause. Assuming you can not drop off the vehicle, you will want to schedule a time for the car to be picked up from your home or the location where it is being stored. On the day of the pickup, you will need to have the title for the vehicle signed by the named owner along with the keys to the vehicle. If you don't have the title or keys, be sure to let the charity know ahead of time to verify that they can still accept your donation.

When the towing company shows up to pick up the car or truck, the driver will provide you with a receipt that shows the vehicle was picked up. This is not the receipt you will need when you file your tax return. The towing company will then deliver the vehicle to a processing center and the charity will determine the fair market value of the vehicle, or will sell the vehicle to determine the value. If the donation is valued at more than $500, the charity will send you a form 1098-C with the gross sale value. This is the form you will need when you file your taxes.

When filing your tax return, you may need to file Form 8283 if the fair market value of all of your non cash charitable donations was greater than $500. You should talk to a professional tax advisor for more information on filing your taxes and how to get the most value when donating a used car to charity.

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Donate Your Used Auto to Charity

By clicking on your state from the list above, you will be able begin the process of donating an old car to charity. Choosing which charity to donate to will be the first step in the donation process. In order to take a tax deduction on the donation of your vehicle, the charitable organization you choose must be approved by the IRS.