Donating Cars For Cash

While we would all like to donate more to charity, it is often the fact that we simply cannot make our finances stretch that far. With bills to pay and mouths to feed, charitable donations are usually the last things on our minds. However, even for someone whose financial situation is very stretched, there is another method of helping charity that won't cost you a penny: car donation tips.

With part of their investigation focusing on the tax year 2000, results came in claiming approximately 6% of all noncash contributions over $500 reported on returns that year were for vehicle donations. Their analysis estimated vehicle donation deductions lowered taxpayers' income tax liability by $654 million that year alone.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has specific online instructions for figuring out the acceptable current worth of a vehicle for donation. Kelly's Blue Book is another helpful resource for figuring the up-to-date value of a used car or truck.

Myth 4: Used automobile warranties all offer essentially the same protection. Fact:there are important differences in coverage from warranty to warranty. The biggest difference is power-train-only versus bumper-to-bumper. Some warranties have extremely restrictive rules about what damage is covered. There are even a few that only pay for repairs by reimbursement rather than direct to the service provider.

A few decades ago, it was only the rich who were able to afford cars. But not any more, as more and more people find it affordable to buy cars with and without loans.

Perhaps you have tried to trade in your used vehicle with an automotive dealer, only to find the trade-in offer quite disappointing. Maybe you have attempted to sell your used car in the open market, using classified advertisements, but a line of prospective buyers fails to form in front of your house.

What do I do with my license plates? If your car has license plates from any Sate except Alaska, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas or Washington State on it, you are required remove them and either return them to the Department of Motor Vehicles or transferred them to another car. Many of those States will not allow you to cancel your car insurance until you have done so. Do not leave your car parked on the street without license plates on it. If you do, you may get a ticket or your car may be impounded before the charity's towing service arrives to pick it up. In this case, you will be liable for all fees.

You also need to make sure that you know what kind of cars are eligible to be donated. Only those cars that have been manufactured for the purpose of transport can be donated. This means that cars that you purchased to sell cannot yield you a tax break. In order to illustrate this fact we can use the example of a car dealer who sells your car to the charity.