Charity Clothing Donation Tax Deductions

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Clothing Donation Tax Deductions

So you have a whole bunch of clothes that you want to donate to charity, and you would like to find out how to keep track of what you donated, so you can get a tax deduction. Well, this is the place. You will find information on how you should keep track of your donations, and links for how much your donation is worth or how to value your donation. You can help the world and your wallet at the same time.

First Things First 

Can I deduct my clothing donation from my taxes?

If you don't itemize deductions, then you can not deduct a clothing donation from your taxes. Sorry, you won't get that bonus, but you can still feel good about donating to charity. If you itemize deductions, then keep reading.

What are my clothes worth? 

How much can I deduct from my taxes?

The salvation army gives a good guide to how much you can record in your taxes for each item you donate.

Salvation Army Donation Valuation Guide

There are other guides out there, but for each guide you will have to use your judgment for the condition of your clothes. Below there is a link list for other valuation guides. If you have a better or favorite guide, add it.

How should I keep track of what I donated? 

Basically, you need to write down the fair value of all of the items that you donate. As an example you could write:

3 Men's Shirts Good condition x $2.50 = $7.50
2 Men's Pants New conditions x $10.00 = $20.00
Total = $27.50

My accountant also recommends taking a picture of all of the items you donate in case there is any question of the value of the items. You don't have to take a picture of each item individually, but lay them all out (maybe in groups) and take a picture of all of it at once. Record the information about what each item is worth in each picture and keep it with that picture.

Make sure to get a receipt
The receipt may not have actual values of what you donated, or amounts, but you still need something that says you donated.

Don't Forget A Receipt

Make sure you get a Receipt of your Donation, or you can't deduct it.

Take it to the limit. 

According to bankrate.com if you donate over $500 you will have to fill out an additional IRS form:

IRS Form 8283

Blog Posts from Google about Charity 

ohnotheydidnt: Hilary Duff takes her Charity Internationally to ...
She will be promoting her charity, "Blessing in a Backpack" in district school and community diners. She will be extending her charity plans to a new project campaigning the importance of vaccination. Negotiations have been made with ...
Buck for Charity: Pulling Together to Make a Difference : EcoLocalizer
All they're asking is that folks donate one little dollar and vote for the charity they want to support. At the end of the Buck for Charity drive, they'll tally the poll results and the top two will share the wealth. ...
Katie Price to launch charity - Eleven - The Celebrity Channel
Katie Price's reputation has been somewhat tarnished by her recent antics in Ibiza.But the glamour model is set to try and improve her image by.
Jordan 'to launch own charity' | Silver Scorpio - International ...
London, July 05 (ANI): Katie Price will soon start her own charity organization called Katie Price Foundation to improve her image after the negative publicity.

Let Me know what you think. Was this helpful? 

Teddi14 wrote...

Thanks so much for having this lens. It will save me time when I have to value the items I am donating!!! 5*'s.

ReplyPosted December 31, 2008

SemperFidelis wrote...

You've got a great lens here! Thanks for joining the For The Good Of Squidoo group. 5* :o)

ReplyPosted March 05, 2008

More Charity 

Half of whatever money is made by this lens will be donated to the Human Fund. Just joking, the half will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

ebay Charity 

Sell on ebay and donate to charity.

Did you know you can sell items on ebay and have the proceeds sent to a charity. A portion of all of the below items' proceeds will go to charity. Most of the people listed here do not give 100% of their proceeds to charity, but you can!

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