The charity should provide you with an acknowledgment of your donation within thirty days of donating your car. This typically comes as Form 8283 - Non-cash Charitable Contributions. You will need to complete Section A of Form 8283 and you will need to attach Form 8283 to your tax return to qualify your deduction. Always remember that an 8283 form should be attached to your tax return for every separate donation you make within a tax year.



What You Must Do If Your Deduction is For More Than $5000

1) Both Section A and B on Form 8283 - Non-cash Charitable Contributions need to be completed. This requires getting a signature from an authorized official of the charity.

2) A qualified appraiser must prepare a written appraisal of your donated car to determine value. Refer to Publication 561 - Determining the Value of Donated Property for the slew of rules regarding what qualifies as an acceptable appraisal. The charity may also sell your donated car rather than give it to a needy person. In this case, a charity's car donation letter will be important and should consist of the following information. - A statement confirming that the car was sold in an "arm's length" transaction between unrelated parties. This means both parties had equal footing in the deal. - The date that the charity sold the car. - The gross proceeds of the sale. - A sentence that explains that your deduction can't exceed the gross proceeds of the sale of your car. This is done to make sure that everyone is clear and you can't say you didn't know come IRS audit time.

Form 8282

You may still hear from your charity for up to two years after you've donated a car. For instance, when you donate a car and the charity uses the car but eventually decides to sell it, all within two years of your donation, they must provide you with a copy of Form 8282 - Donee Information Return, which they should've filed with the IRS.

Never Forget The DMV -- Transferring the Title

The title of your car needs to be transferred to the charity before you drop off the vehicle or the charity picks up the automobile. License plates must also be removed. Most states require the filling out of a form, indicating that the car is being donated, before title is transferred over.