car donation

Top 4 Reasons Why You Should Consider Donating Your Car

Do you have an old car in your garage that you haven’t been using too much? If so, you should look into giving off the vehicle as a donation to a charity organization. After all, isn’t it better to get rid of something that you rarely use and hogs all the space in the garage? Below, we will look at four reasons why giving away your car to a charity can be one of the best decisions you can make.

Help Others Just For The Sake Of It

The first benefit is obviously the satisfaction of giving something to charity. There are many people who do not own a car and have to live a difficult life. These also include elderly people who continue to walk all the way to their workplace situated far away from their home. Imagine how they will feel when they receive your car as a gift. They will inevitably be happy and thank you in their minds for helping them out. And knowing that you have played an important part in changing someone’s life for the better is a good feeling. So, look for charities that accept car donations and let other people benefit from something that you do not even use.

Tax Benefits

Giving a car away for charity also comes with a tax benefit. You can deduct the price of the donated vehicle from your next year’s income tax returns. However, this will require that the charity organization does acknowledge the receipt of your car and confirms that it has been transferred to another person. Now, this is okay for cars which are valued at $500 or less. For vehicles valued at over $500, an IRS Form 8283 must be attached to your returns. And if the vehicle is priced more than $5000, then you will need to get an independent appraisal done that verifies the price in addition to submitting the Form 8283 and the confirmation letter from the charity.

Title Issues

Sometimes, you might find that you have lost the title of your car. And this can make it difficult to sell it. As such, the best thing you can do is to give it off to charity rather than holding onto the vehicle. Charity organizations can easily accept your car without any issues. However, they will mostly be limited to selling the vehicle for parts and scraps rather than transferring it to another person. But at least, your donation will have helped a charity get some funds.

Easy Process

Giving off the car to a charity is the easiest, dimples, and the least stressful way to get rid of the vehicle.  You literally don’t have to do anything. Once you contact a charity, they will come to your home at a decided time and tow away the car. Now, you won’t have to pay any price for towing. Instead, it will be deducted from the value of the car, which will reduce the tax that can be deducted when you file your returns.