Why You Should Donate Your Car To Charity

November 28, 2017

We appreciate that you are considering donating your vehicle to charity. This is a wonderful idea. Many charities accept both running and non-running vehicles. Since it is impossible to suggest local charities to our broad, international audience, we encourage you to use search engines to find the perfect place to donate your old vehicle.

But why should you donate a vehicle? Let’s look!

Helping

By donating a vehicle you may be helping any number of people. Some charities use these vehicles as helpful handouts to those whose vehicle is impossible to fix or beyond their budget. This allows them to get to work, get their kids to school safely and do things that we take for granted such as go get groceries for their home.

Other charities use older, repaired vehicles for their own uses. This could mean using them for pickups of donations, mobility assistance for those who do not have vehicles of their own, or even selling repaired ones so they can use the sales funds to help more people.

Many charities will also accept vehicles that are beyond repair. They use these for funding as well, as many junk yards will happily pay for these vehicles at a certain rate per pound based on the metal that is the vehicle’s base.

Tax Write Offs

In many states and countries you can use your charitable donations as a tax write off if the charity is a 501c3 certified organization. This essentially means that every penny possible is used to help those in need and classifies them as a non-profit charity.

It’s very likely that you’ve had to pay a relatively high tax for your replacement vehicle. Though you may be able to recoop some of these fees when you do your yearly income taxes, this is becoming more and more difficult.

This is where the tax write off comes in handy. You can essentially offset your paid taxes on your new vehicle with the tax write off that you get in donating your old vehicle. Though it may not be the same amount, it is impossible to tell until you look up the value of your car. This is very simple to do with any of several different apps and websites, including but not limited to Kelley Blue Book and Google.

We recommend getting this figure in print if possible for your records. County tax offices may also be willing to issue you an official price quote based on these apps. An official county tax document may be the safer bet if the IRS wants more information on your donation.

Free Disposal

Our last major perk is the free disposal of your vehicle by the charity coming to get it. This means that they will haul away your car for you if not running, which may otherwise cost you a few hundred dollars. Not only do you win, but the charity wins too. Donating your vehicle is a wonderful idea. If you aren’t sure what to do with your old vehicle, consider donating it!

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One Reply to “Why You Should Donate Your Car To Charity”

Alice Carroll says:

July 8, 2020 at 8:20 pm

I like that you mentioned that cars is sometimes a necessity in order to ensure the safety of families, like for when sending kids to school for example. I’m planning to buy a new car soon but the one I’m currently using right now is still in good condition apart from its high mileage. Since it’s my tradition to make charitable donations during December every year, I think donating my car would be a good idea in addition to the usual monetary donations that I make to my charity of choice.

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