Car donation, do i need to file itemised tax?

M

MoneyJohn

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Mar 1, 2012
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HUdson Valley, NY
I am thinking of donating our 2006 sentra with ailing transmission. Peddle value is $540. Our tax bracket is 24%.


Should I even bother with donation or just sell it to peddle?

I honestly don't want to deal if I have to itemize the deductions.

Thank you.
 
Seems like non-itemizers can donate up to $600 cash now. Other charitable donations are not included in this guidance.

Expanded tax benefits help individuals and businesses give to charity during 2021; deductions up to $600 available for cash donations by non-itemizers | Internal Revenue Service

IR-2021-190, September 17, 2021 — The Internal Revenue Service today explained how expanded tax benefits can help both individuals and businesses give to charity before the end of this year.
www.irs.gov www.irs.gov
 
JayhawkRoy said:
Seems like non-itemizers can donate up to $600 cash now. Other charitable donations are not included in this guidance.

Expanded tax benefits help individuals and businesses give to charity during 2021; deductions up to $600 available for cash donations by non-itemizers | Internal Revenue Service

IR-2021-190, September 17, 2021 — The Internal Revenue Service today explained how expanded tax benefits can help both individuals and businesses give to charity before the end of this year.
www.irs.gov www.irs.gov
Click to expand...
I thought that expired?

I AM NOT A TAX PROFESSIONAL. Do your own research. I do my own taxes and occasionally stay at Holiday Inn Express.

Topic no. 506, Charitable contributions | Internal Revenue Service

Topic No. 506, Charitable Contributions
www.irs.gov www.irs.gov
 
This sounds like a hassle all around, unless there's a charity you feel strong about and just want to donate it to them and not worry about the deduction, I'd just sell it private party or to a scrapyard and be done with it.
 
Rmay635703 said:
The standard deduction makes it virtually impossible to itemize AND actually get any additional tax savings.
Click to expand...
Most tax deduction deals are just an illusion. If you donate a car worth $600, you don't deduct $600 off your tax owed, but maybe $150 if you're in a 25% bracket. Much better selling it yourself for it's full value so you can keep all of it.
 
You're able to get more for the charity by selling it yourself. The auctions charge usurious fees and then you have the towing costs as well.

Sell it for $1000 to $1500. Offer it for $1800 and take some solid pics. It will sell.
 
atikovi said:
Find it hard to believe a reseller would pay that much for it. It wouldn't bring more than $200 at a salvage auction. Are you sure they won't add fees and deductions to the final check?
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Peddle paid $330 each for my Saturn and a 99 Cavalier back in 2020, both non-running - tow driver showed up with cash. Just priced the Saturn and it is showing as $415 non-running. Guessing there is a bit of a premium for running with ailing transmission. No hidden fees or anything. Tow driver said I could have gotten another $20 or $40 from their yard had I sold direct to their yard with the original cat.
 
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Just actually put in an '06 Sentra with 200K and '06 Cobalt with 155K (my car) both as running, $415 for both, so guess the $540 is probably a regional adjustment based on the deal with whatever yard it is getting bought by.
 
atikovi said:
Find it hard to believe a reseller would pay that much for it. It wouldn't bring more than $200 at a salvage auction. Are you sure they won't add fees and deductions to the final check?
Click to expand...
I used peddle. My offer was $600’for a 1998 Maxima earlier this year.

First thing the wrecker did was lift the front end up, which revealed my CAT was aftermarket. Now they cut the offer to $300 and said it’s totally up to me if I think someone else will give more. I did a quick google search to see what my OE cat should look like and it was not what was on the car. So I accepted.

It’s all scrap they could care less about the Bose stereo etc. how do I know? I forgot to give them the keys and never heard from them again.

So yes peddle is legit. It’s like a rock auto of salvage
 
Yes, you have to itemized the deduction.
So, if you usually have itemized deduction that is more than standard deduction, then it is worth to do.
Otherwise, no.
 
JMJNet said:
Yes, you have to itemized the deduction.
So, if you usually have itemized deduction that is more than standard deduction, then it is worth to do.
Otherwise, no.
Click to expand...
my take is the only people who would itemize today are the wealthy. If you are wealthy, you wouldn't have a vehicle you need to scrap anyway. One can't even deduct SALT beyond a threshold. Be curious what's going to happen when this policy expires. I for one thought it was a joke. The standard deduction went up, but exemptions were gone. I don't have a mortgage, but what about those who do and the interest, or a home equity loan used to improve their home? The standard deduction is $27,700 for 2023, I've never actually even had that much to deduct all the way back to 2002, when I bought my home with a mortgage. Come to think of it, that's a nice increase over 2022, if one uses a FSA like I once did to lower overall tax obligations....(1800/3050 a good chunk or %)
 
John105 said:
my take is the only people who would itemize today are the wealthy. If you are wealthy, you wouldn't have a vehicle you need to scrap anyway. One can't even deduct SALT beyond a threshold. Be curious what's going to happen when this policy expires. I for one thought it was a joke. The standard deduction went up, but exemptions were gone. I don't have a mortgage, but what about those who do and the interest, or a home equity loan used to improve their home? The standard deduction is $27,700 for 2023, I've never actually even had that much to deduct all the way back to 2002, when I bought my home with a mortgage. Come to think of it, that's a nice increase over 2022, if one uses a FSA like I once did to lower overall tax obligations....(1800/3050 a good chunk or %)
Click to expand...
I think you’re conflating terms, here.

Wealth is having money.

High earnings is not wealth, and in your “only people who would itemize” you’re actually talking about high earners who would have enough income to itemize.

But, in reality, income and wealth are very different.

Further, itemization requires high deductible expenses, which may, or may not, be supported by a high income.

There are lots of people with modest income who have a lot of expenses, for example, two kids in college and a mortgage, who are still going to itemize deductions.
 
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Astro14 said:
I think you’re conflating terms, here.

Wealth is having money.

High earnings is not wealth, and in your “only people who would itemize” you’re actually talking about high earners who would have enough income to itemize.

But, in reality, income and wealth are very different.

Further, itemization requires high deductible expenses, which may, or may not, be supported by a high income.

There are lots of people with modest income who have a lot of expenses, for example, two kids in college and a mortgage, who are still going to itemize deductions.
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You're right.

It would be interesting to see how exactly a person with a modest income, is itemizing above $27,700 as a married couple. Meaning, to see what those expenses actually are...
 
John105 said:
You're right.

It would be interesting to see how exactly a person with a modest income, is itemizing above $27,700 as a married couple. Meaning, to see what those expenses actually are...
Click to expand...
Well, I’m not exactly offering to share my tax returns, but we had a mortgage, charitable contributions, business expenses (back when employees could have those) and college expenses.

Our deductions were well over $40,000, closer to $50,000, but our income was modest.

Things were tight. We had three kids on college at the same time.

The deductibility of those expenses eased the burden somewhat. That’s the real intent of deductions, easing the burden on important expenses, not just pandering to lobbyists for certain interests…
 
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