What to Look For in a Car Donation Site

Almost every car donation center is supporting some charity or the other. Many car donation portals have a list of charities they support and publish. This gives them a lot of credibility on the internet. Some charities strive to help the needy. When it comes to providing little mouths with some food there is, perhaps, not a soul that will back away from an opportunity to do so. Donation centers support such charities by donating the proceeds of your used car sale to a charity of your choice or theirs.

However, there are cautions to be observed when donating your car to a donation center. While you will be giving your car away you will definitely want to make good some benefit you will receive by way of tax benefits. You will only be able to avail of these benefits if you donate car to a charity listed with the IRS. If the car donation center or the charity your car lands up with are not listed with the IRS you will not be able to claim tax deductions on the transaction. So, this is the first thing your should ensure.

The car donation service should also be able to give you good unbiased advice. The wrong advice concerning the donation of your car will end up with you not being able to claim deductions. Make yourself aware of the rules that govern claiming of deductions, especially when it comes to donating property and vehicles. The rules are very clear on car donations that exceed a sum of 500 USD. There is a limit on the permissible amount of car donations. The limit amounts to the gross amount that the charity obtained through the car donation sale.

Some car donation centers will just send the car in for auction and let it go for the best bidder. The better car donation centers will look for a needy family that needs a vehicle so that you will get the market value for your car and claim the amount on your tax returns.

You should be aware that there are a lot of legalities involved with a donation. There are procedures that the owner of the car must follow as per the law. This includes reporting the sale of the car to the traffic authorities. It is important to take a receipt for the car from the purchaser and report the date and the time you handed the vehicle over.

This will save you a lot of legal hassles should the vehicle be involved in an incident. Good donation agencies not only get you the best deal for your car but they also take care of the paperwork without you having to do any running-about. They will also tow away the car no matter what condition it is in.

Once you are sure that the charity you want to donate car to is going to get the vehicle and you will get the best quote to claim a deduction you should go ahead and donate your car because the charity gets the proceeds and you get to claim and save some tax.