One could also make the argument that programs such as the Purple Heart Car Donation Program are necessary because federal officials aren’t doing a very good job of taking care of the veterans that it keeps pledging to do a better job of fixing up.  However, veterans groups have rarely felt very well taken care of, so the need for charitable programs has always been a part of veteran life.

Given how the cost of insurance (that veterans are not automatically entitled to) keeps going up for veterans and everyone else, it’s no wonder that there is so much work to be done by the Purple Heart Car Donation Program and other veterans’ groups.  Indeed, the amount of money paid for the demonstrably sub-standard care given at some Veterans’ Administration (VA) hospitals, has been something of a national scandal since the first Gulf War in the early 1990s.

So, it may surprise you that an old car or truck may be donated to the Purple Heart Car Donation Program without even leaving your pajamas.  From their website, you may fill in all the pertinent information that will allow someone to call and arrange a time for pickup

The Purple Heart Car Donation Program differs from many programs in that it doesn’t necessarily just sell your vehicle on the open, wholesale market as many online donation services do.  In this case, they run their own, non-profit pick up, delivery and repair services.  Also, unlike many other services, you’re allowed to drive your running car up to their offices for donation.

There are many good, charitable outreach missions supported by proceeds generated from the Purple Heart Car Donation Program.  For instance, some of the better cars are used to assist veterans in getting to their medical appointments.  Sometimes monies are used to help families get on their feet during war time, or to even help purchase a prosthetic limb better than the most basic models that are covered by veterans’ insurance, despite the high fees charged for such coverage.

That organizations such as the Purple Heart Car Donation Program are even necessary is a surprise to many who have, perhaps rightly, assumed that the federal government was indebted to soldiers wounded in the line of duty.  However, the sad fact is that once a medal has been awarded, injuries that may have changed a soldier’s entire way of life are not considered the government’s problem once the soldier has been discharged.

Consider the recent increases in massive head injuries during the second Gulf Wars.  Though bake sales and fund raisers across the country have been trying to send after-market head protection to soldiers serving, it would seem that money that should be spent keeping people safe is being diverted.  The Purple Heart Car Donation Program isn’t currently sending body armor to Iraq and Afghanistan, it does support medical testing and helping veterans afford their medications.

That said, the prognosis for those with brain injuries isn’t very good.  For this reason, charities such as Purple Heart Car Donation Program have been stepping in and giving the young spouses of severely injured veterans the skills to help care for them when the VA can’t.

It is also notable that though the current Gulf Wars have not had a very high mortality rate, by the usual accounting, the flip side of that is a very high proportion of troops that have been injured in the line of duty – many of them to be sent back into action.  Though the Purple Heart Car Donation Program is only a drop in this bucket, the lives it has touched have keenly felt its presence.

However, in addition to used car donation, which may be the most commonly advertised type of giving, there are plenty of still valuable goods in most people’s homes, waiting to be put to a more charitable use.    For instance, just about anything that isn’t consumable or appears made to last for more than a few years is perfect for donation.

Consider electronic goods, for instance.  They are very similar to used car donation in that many times people don’t bother to donate them until they are well into obsolescence or broken beyond reasonable repair.  Even though most charitable NPOs regularly request only working items, that is what they end up with most times.

As with used car donation, there are companies with an educational mission, who will teach people how to rebuild and refurbish older electronic goods (especially computers), teach them how to use open source software with the newly useful machines and then send them home with a fully loaded and functional computer.

And again, just like used car doantion, this model serves only a small segment of the used computer marketplace, with most being sold to scrapyards in China to have their gold removed.  The actual value for people in your community is quite low in this scheme, so if charitable giving in your goal, it would be a good idea to check into such programs when you’re getting ready to make your donation.

Though many of the strict regulations that pertain to used car donation don’t apply in quite the same way to some other types of donated goods, recent changes have tightened up the rules for other non-cash donations that are likely to be deducted at a rate far higher than the condition-adjusted value.

This has the effect of decreasing the amount of money that one can claim from clothing and household goods (including furniture) in poor condition just as a used car dontaion of a running car doesn’t even warrant the “poor” rating in the Kelley Blue Book.  There are even now regulations on the amount and condition of donation taxidermy.

Property was the largest component of non-cash donation to charity in 2002, right after stocks.  Property is generally required to be professionally and independently appraised before it may be deducted as a charitable gift.

Other non-cash items that benefit charity in addition to used car donation, include art of whatever questionable taste you choose, as long as its in good or better condition.  Intellectual properties may also be donated, as may securities and inventories.

If there is any way someone can make money off something you’ve donated, odds are, they will.  It might be a good idea to talk to your tax preparer or CPA about whether your donation will be fully deductible.  If not, there’s probably a way that it could be made to work.  Find out.

If you’ll be claiming more than $500,000 in charitable deductions for a given year, you’ll automatically have to file some special paperwork.  Generally, just as with used car donation, the more you hope to claim as deduction for a given item or for a great many items, the more documentation you’ll need to produce to back up your claims and the more likely the IRS is to ask you about it.

And just as the changes that impacted used car donation in 2005, it is unclear what effect this change will have.  Will people continue to donate items without tax benefit or will it leave that many fewer resources for the poor and disadvantaged?  It is unclear if charities themselves have been negatively affected, much less the communities they serve.

Of course, the path you choose will have a great deal to do with the value of your car.  And, by value, the “fair market value” as recently clarified by the IRS, is the standard.  This means, not how much you can expect to get if your car is listed in the Kelley Blue Book as “fair” but instead, how much you could fairly get if you tried to sell the car yourself.  So, if you’d be wasting your money to ask for more than $300 for your car with the blown-up transmission and 200,000 miles then you shouldn’t claim more than that as a deductible when donating the car.

Online vehicle donation is far more prevalent (and sensible for everyone involved) when the car is already known to be of low value.  This way, when it’s sold for $50 at wholesale auction, you won’t be nearly as surprised as someone who brought in a running car with low miles.

Third-party donation agents, who are almost always for-profit companies, work for charities in most online vehicle donation operations.  This means that the amount the charity receives from the sale of your vehicle is dependent upon not only the amount received from its quick sale, but also the agreement between the agent and the charity regarding the amount of a given sale the charity must pay for services.

In fact, in some cases, the deal is such that the charity can actually end up owing these private companies money after your online vehicle donation.  If you’d like to know more about any aspect of the company that’s is facilitating online vehicle donation for the charity of your choice, it’s your right to ask, though most don’t bother.

Of course, it depends upon your motivation to contact an online vehicle donation service in the first place.  If you don’t care about a tax deduction (since it does require you to to to the extra bother of filing your return with itemized deductions) and are somewhat indifferent about supporting a charitable mission, then online vehicle donation is a good outlet for getting rid of a car, truck, RV or boat that’s become an attractive nuisance  in its disuse.

There are ways to check and see if the online vehicle donation service you’ve chosen is up to snuff.  For instance, you can double check on the charities in question.  If at any time someone is reluctant to give you the exempt tax ID number of the charity they claim to serve, then move on.  Whether done locally or online, vehicle donation (or any kind, really) requires the charity to be up-front with their non-profit status.

There are, however, plenty of online vehicle donation sites that are perfectly legitimate.  Often people choose to go with a company that gives a choice of charitable organizations.  They should freely come to pick up your vehicle within days of your contacting them.  Don’t be afraid to ask about the possibility of any fees up front.  If there are any, keep looking, as there shouldn’t be a disposal fee unless your car is radioactive.

Generally, online vehicle donation is an above-the-board, legitimate practice, since many of those operating without real charitable sponsorship were weeded out after the 2005 IRS rule changes.  These adjustments not only made it harder for companies to continue operating as they liked, without any oversight.  The rule changes have also had the effect of increasing public confidence in online vehicle donation sites.

Of course, value to you and I differs a bit when dealing with the IRS.  The term “fair market value” led to some speculation in the past until the term was clarified to mean specifically what another party would be willing to pay for your vehicle in the fanr an open marketplace.

For instance, if a car is worth less than $250 you may claim tax deductions without any evidence to back up your claim.  Indeed, you could claim several $200 cars had been donated without even supplying evidence of a receipt with your forms, though it should be kept on file with pictures of the car(s) just in case of an audit.

Though such a scenario doesn’t effect most people, some people do have access to a steady stream of junk autos.  In that case, it is useful to note that your tax deductions for  a given year cannot exceed one half your income.

In the case of a vehicle that is worth more than $250 but less than $500, you will need to get a hold of a receipt (and dated) with the charity’s name and number on it.  This should be kept along with your other receipts for your tax deductions, just in case of an audit someday.  Such records should be kept for at least 10 years.

In the case of auto donations, you may claim a tax deduction of up up to $500 or the sale price of the vehicle – whichever is greater.  Though, you’ll have to back up your tax deduction estimation of $500 with evidence to support that value, such as pictures or an appraisal from a third party.

Of course, hardly anyone has a car worth less than $500 appraised, though this is required of higher value cars.  For those vehicles thought to be worth more than $500, though less than $5,000, the charity that you donate to will have to provide you with a Form 8283 with section A filled out.  This form will cement your deduction value to the sale price of your car or truck unless it’s actually being used by a needy individual or the charitable organization itself.

Herein lies the biggest difference between how one chooses to donate an auto.  Since most cars thought to be worth less than $5,000 are sent along to wholesale auction when donated to a third-party agent of your preferred charity, the actual value received for them will be very low compared to what you might get if you took out a classified ad and tried to sell the vehicle yourself.

With a Form 8283 in hand that must be attached to your itemized tax deductions (schedule A on Form 1040), you are then beholden to claim only the amount of money that the charity in question actually received from the sale of your car or truck.  On the other hand, if the car is put to actual use, you may claim the full “fair market value.”

As such, the charity will send you a form telling you what use they intend to put your vehicle to, as well as the receipt you received when you transferred the title.  All these should be kept in your tax records, just in case.  Generally, only an approved Form 8283 is attached to tax deduction schedules.

If your vehicle is thought to be worth more than $5,000 at the time of donation, an independent, written appraisal must take place within 60 days of the donation.  Again, you don’t need to attach it, but will instead receive a Form 8283 with section B filled out.  This will include the appraised value and will the amount you can legally take as a tax deduction.

Even good charities can let bad companies represent them.  This is sometimes the result of someone on the side of the charity not looking to closely into the qualifications of those actually doing the tow work and the paper work involved with selling a vehicle and reporting the proceeds accurately to the charity and yourself.  Online car donation almost always uses such services, even if the

On the other hand, the problem may be that the charity hired a service that facilities pick up and delivery with a network of independent contractors.  This does, of course, decrease the amount the charity will receive as a percentage of the car’s sale price at wholesale auction.  However, it does guarantee that you’ll be able to call a single number to initiate a donation no matter where you live through online car donation.

Regardless, you want to make sure there’s something to guarantee the online car donation service you choose is at least legitimate.  For starters, it should say what the charity is that you’re donating to.  If this isn’t readily apparent, a certain amount of this may be bad web design, though this is a common tactic used by companies that are actually illegal according to Federal law.

It is your duty when using online car donation services to check and see not only that they list a charity, but make it possible for you to check up on the non-profit, exempt status with the IRS.  Thankfully, you can look up tax ID numbers from the IRS website.  Donations made to less than real non-profit organization (NPOs) are not allowable tax deductions and can even result in an audit.

Once you’ve verified that the NPO in question is real, you may then donate to your hart’s content, though the amount of a deduction eventually garnered for the donation will often be less from an online car donation site than you might get from contacting a local charity that can use the vehicle directly.

Another thing you’ll want to keep an eye out for is an online car donation that makes you responsible for any charges.  Since you’re doing the donation, there’s no reason why you should have to deal with any sort of fees or charges.  Some unscrupulous companies will present donors with a destination charge, though there’s not a reason to pay such a charge either, especially if you find out your car is being sold rather than going out of state

Online auto donation has certainly come along way since the early days of dial up bulletin boards.  The industry got so large in the early ‘aughts that the General Accounting Office felt compelled to investigate the practice.  Resultant legislation has taken many of the smaller players out of the industry, though it continues to be lucrative enough.

Regardless, they’re not going anywhere, anytime soon.  A simple search for “online car donation” in your favorite search engine should return about a million pages of donation opportunities and information on services that can help you get rid of your extra vehicle.

It is good to know that if a tax donation isn’t very important to you, there are online car donation services that will take care of the hauling away and paperwork associated with the change of ownership as well as the sales and paperwork associated with the actual donation.  Even if your car is running, it will be towed from its current location.

You shouldn’t assume you’ll get a hefty donation from your online car donation.  Often times, the sale price at a wholesale auction are so poor that your charity may not benefit very much at all.  Be sure that the charity in question isn’t responsible if money is lost on the transaction, especially if you’re donating a car that’s not in very good shape.

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Whether they’re local or nationwide, vehicle donation services are required to tell you what charities they’re an agent for as well as what they expect to do with your vehicle once you’ve described it to them in detail.  Though it is most common  for such services to sell your vehicle at a wholesale auction, you can at least find a good company that will take care of everything for you and represents a charity that you can feel good about.

For starters, many of the third-party agents who facilitate nationwide vehicle donation companies are found online.  Indeed, they often do a very good job of advertising their services so that you can find them on billboards, radio ads and on lawn signs.  However, online is a good place to start, especially if you’re looking to support a particular charitable non-profit organization (NPO).

If you know what sort of charity you want to support, then it’s just a matter of finding a service that provides the information you need and doesn’t charge you for any of the services you require to mke the donation happen.  Most larger charitable operations work with large facilitation networks that operate nationwide and the golden rule of Vehicle donation is that you shouldn’t have to pay for anything.  Dismiss a service that attempts to give you charges instead of a donation receipt.

Moreover, it is your right to know what they intend to do with the car.  You are also able to ask for the tax ID number of the charity in question to make sure they’re sanctioned by the IRS.  If not, you’ll not be allowed to take a deduction from your taxable income.  Since they tend to represent large national charities, many nationwide vehicle donation companies keep a list of tax ID numbers on their websites so you can check on the legitimacy of their charities at your leisure.

Nationwide vehicle donation services also are responsible for getting you a  receipt when your car is sold.  This is especially important for those hoping to take a tax deduction from their charitable deduction.  Without that receipt that you’re supposed to receive from whomever sells your automobile within 30 days of the sale, you can’t take a deduction for more than $500.

On the other hand, some types of donation have the possibility of finding someone in the community who can actually use your car, rather than selling it’s pieces to mechanics nationwide.  Vehicle donations used in this manner are not dependent upon a sales price, but instead the amount you’d be likely to sell the vehicle for yourself.

If your car isn’t running, or is in otherwise terrible shape, it is likely you’re more interested in just getting rid of the thing rather than securing a few hundred dollars in additional deduction money.  In that case, your choice of a nationwide vehicle donation service is largely one of convenience.

In that case, you’d prehaps be most interested in arranging pickup during hours that are convenient for you.  In fact, if the prospect of a tax donation and assisting a charity aren’t that important to you, it may behoove you to check out nationwide vehicle donation and recycling services.  In that case, the service will forego the pretense of charitable donation in favor of a reward in trade for giving your car to the company if you choose the recycling option.

Nationwide vehicle donation services are set up to be able to serve a wide variety of donors.  As such, they are readily available to take cars away, for free, from just about anywhere in the country.  Often they’ll let you choose to make your donation to one of many charities or into a fund that goes to all of them equally.

One of the best things about choosing a nationwide vehicle donation is the ease of using them.  Just give your name, location some information about the car, and someone is usually there within a day or two to take that vehicle, running or not, away for good.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Many charities, including the National Children’s Cancer Society, use third-party agents who assist them in procuring and processing cars, trucks, RVs, motorcycles and trailers for donation.  Though this actually accounts for a very small part of their over $80 million (as of 2006) budget of the  National Children’s Cancer Society and its subsidiary programs, car donation is perhaps one of the most prominent types of advertising for donations that most people see.

Of course, if your child or a child you know has cancer, there is plenty that the National Children’s Cancer Society does that you can take advantage of.  It is their mission to take care of children with cancer and their families.  It is estimated that over 12,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer of some type each year.

The National Children’s Cancer Society assists people with financial aid and prescription medication aid.  In addition to families that began treating their child’s cancer with adequate finances, the National Children’s Cancer Society also seeks out families who’ve lost their financial security as a result of a medical bills.

The National Children’s Cancer Society, like many other charities with a large donation base, does not accept vehicle donations directly.  Though it does accept donations of cash, IRA funds, membership and planned donations.  However, non-cash items such as furniture or vehicles are donated through third-party agents.

These agents are typically for-profit companies that specialize in towing and delivery of many different types of vehicles.  It is also true that when such companies handle a vehicle for a legitimate charity (such as the National Children’s Cancer Society), there are now limits on how much they can charge for overhead costs without having to file more complicated bookkeeping than is usually profitable.

It is also true that such companies often opt for selling your vehicle at a wholesale auto auction.  In fact, in the end, less than $30 of a car you could have sold yourself for $1,000 may be received by a charity such as National Children’s Cancer Society.  Moreover, when you donate the vehicle to a charity that doesn’t use the vehicle directly, you won’t be able to claim nearly as much of a tax deduction.

Of course, you can always sell your car on the open market yourself and then give the proceeds to the charity as a cash donation.  The National Children’s Cancer Society is set up to handle cash donations on the phone, by mail or online.  Donations of more complicated monies such as stocks or endowment funds will probably have to wait ’til business hours, but they make donation of money and money-like objects easy.

Handling cars is an expensive proposition.  Charities that handle vehicles that no longer run, such as the National Children’s Cancer Society, either have to hire out to a handling service or employ a garage and skilled mechanics.

On the other hand, charities that give cars directly and give them to needy folks to drive, usually only take running cars that the owners can deliver themselves.  Of course, this excludes a section of the donating population that the National Children’s Cancer Society makes good use of.  Direct-use charities require the donation of a car that’s in better running condition than the majority of cars accepted by charities such as the National Children’s Cancer Society.

Of course, direct donations are also as much as 10 times more valuable in terms of a tax deduction.  Regardless of what a third-party agent might say about car donation deduction rates, the National Children’s Cancer Society and other non-profit organizations (NPOs) must be very careful about leading consumers to think that their junker car towed out of the front lawn is going to take thousands off their tax bill.

Regardless of the end use, all sorts of charities can use running vehicles, weather they give them away for use or sell them to the highest bidder.  The National Children’s Cancer Society is one of many that accepts any type of car, though it lets third-party agents conduct most of the advertising as well as all of the actual sales.

Essentially, the money charities such as the National Children’s Cancer Society earn from this activity is tantamount to renting out their non-profit status as a type of sponsorship that the companies pay a percentage of.

The National Children’s Cancer Society and other nation-wide charities hope that changes in tax laws since 2005 will result in a higher percentage of more valuable cars being donated.

Image by dkilim via Flickr

There was once a time when the Kelley Blue Book was used by most people when they were looking up what to value their car at when taking deductions at the end of the year for donated vehicles.  However, since 2005, IRS regulations have much more clearly stated how one can value a vehicle that is donated to charity.

This has had a very large impact on vehicles that don’t run or are otherwise unsuitable to be given to anyone to drive.  Such vehicles were, for many years, assigned a value out of the Kelley Blue Book, as if they ran.

What most people failed to realize is that even the “poor” rating in the Kelley Blue Book referred to cars that were legal and safe to drive as well as actually moving under their own power.  However, most cars that were donated to charity in the early ‘aughts were not even running – often rusted hulks there were good for little else than parting out after a wholesale auction.  This is, of course, where most of them ended up.

Despite this discrepancy, it is very common for people to take deductions that are listed under the “fair” column of the Kelley Blue Book rather than what the car was actually worth.  When you read it carefully, the “fair” description of a vehicle actually describes one that is in rather good shape.

That’s where the IRS stepped in.  After a report to the Senate Finance Committee from the US General Accounting Office in late 2003, it became apparent that more than half a billion dollars had been deducted that were not actually given to the charities in question.  This was partly due to people taking the wrong values for their deductions from the Kelley Blue Book.

However, the biggest culprit that made this formerly small loophole a large-scale tax dodge were for-profit companies that handled the donation and sales for non-profit organizations.  Many were quite small NPOs that didn’t have facilities for taking care of non-running donations.  These companies furthermore were encouraging people to take the maximum benefit from the Kelley Blue Book that they could find.

Of course, this is not what the IRS ever meant.  However, the regulation has since been clarified to more accurately reflect what was meant by fair market value.  It means that rather than taking the highest available Kelley Blue Book value, you should choose a value that someone would actually be willing to pay if you were selling the car yourself.

To further clarify this, they have also ruled that if the car is worth less than $5,000, the value claimed for any car that is directly sold is the sale value of that vehicle.  So, if sold on the wholesale market by a third-party agent, you could only claim that amount, even though it may be a fraction of what your car is actually worth, regardless of the Kelley Blue Book price.

Vehicles that are thought to be worth more than $5,000 should be verified by an independent auditor and photographed for documentation purposes.  One doesn’t have to actually attach either of these (or a photocopied page of the Kelley Blue Book) to their tax return, but a Form 8283 must be attached, even for donations of more than $500.

So, though you can’t simply take the highest value available for your make and model from the Kelley Blue Book, you can still use it to help you determine what someone might pay for a car with the same coughs and dings as yours, just as anyone deciding what the market will allow.  You should also consider what cars are selling for in the newspaper.

Even if you can’t get much out of the corrected Kelley Blue Book value of your car, donating to charity is a good way to make an impact in your community.  Moreover, you can usually claim up to $500 without too much bother, and most people can use even that small of a tax deductible if they’re self-employed.

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Even if your business isn’t actually dealing in cars, many small businesses rely upon fleets that can be maintained, partially, through charitable gift giving to IRS-sanctioned non-profit organizations (NPOs).  This allows you to not only take what may be a significant tax break, but also gives you a valuable outlet for keeping the fleet fresh.

Consider, for instance, what effect going down a tax bracket can have on your business or corporate tax return.  Donation and charitable gift giving is potentially very rewarding, even if it is of cars worth less than $500.  If you’re in a position to donate several of $500 autos in a given year, you could not only take all those deductions but also, such gift giving could result in your paying a smaller overall tax on your now much smaller income.

Even if you only have one or two vehicles, as many small businesses do, you can still donate that car to a charity that will use that vehicle directly (as opposed to selling it on the wholesale market) and claim the fair market value for your gift.  Giving to  charity that has use for a vehicle may be used to deliver meals, given to a needy family, or used by your local police department.

In fact, charitable gift giving can represent a large number of organizations that are exempt from taxes according to the IRS.  Any NPO goes through some rigorous standards to gain tax exempt status.  Of course, you should double check to find out that any NPO that you’re considering donating to

Small businesses and the self-employed are the most likely to benefit from tax deductions in general, since they are already in the habit of taking itemized deductions.  Also, the presence of other deductions one is able to claim enough on deductions to lower the percentage of tax that they pay, sometimes significantly if many capital investments to your business have occurred in the same year.

As such, when you choose charitable gift giving, you’re able to deduct the value of the donated car but also, the amount of the new car or truck you’ve purchased to replace it.  This additional amount of deduction is often enough to make a real difference in the amount of tax owed at the end of the year, even though deductions are made from the business income line.

If you maintain a fleet of vehicles or go through them very quickly, it may be helpful to establish a set of protocols by where you automatically begin whatever replacement procedures you normally use, but also consider facilitating charitable gift giving that is likely to benefit you and the charity in question to the greatest extent.

For small, local businesses, it’s often best to find smal, local charities that can actually find real people to drive the cars you’ve donated rather than a service that simply takes the cars away for wholesale auction.  You’ll be able to declare a much higher amount – often as much as 10 times higher.   Gift giving within your local community also allows you to form valuable partnerships that will allow you to really look good to your potential customers.

There are no regulations on bragging rights, other than those you agree to with the charity in question.  Consider the NFL and the United Way as an example of such a mutually beneficial partnership based upon volunteerism as well as charitable gift giving.

The practice of charitable gift giving is not only a good option for people with old clunkers in the yard.  The changes that made it more difficult to claim more than $500 in deductions for many individuals make it very easy for small businesses with one or more company vehicles to benefit as fully as possible from charitable gift giving.  There are plenty of local charities in most places that can use a vehicle that still runs, even if it does have a bit of wear.

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Like many other things that have changed since 2000 in Florida, vehicle donation agents have found themselves with far less latitude.  In fact, many companies have given up on taking donations in that state, though many who left were not serving legitimate charities anyhow.  When threatened with an investigation by the State Attorney General, most such companies simply focused their efforts elsewhere.

In Florida, vehicle donation agents do continue to operate on behalf of real 501 c(3), non-profit organizations (NPOs).  To apply for non-profit status, a charitable NPO must prove to the IRS that they are serving the public good (as narrowly defined in the tax code) through an educational or service oriented mission.

Additionally, Florida’s vehicle donation program regulations require that each such company be registered at the state level, pledging what charitable NPOs they work for, complete with exempt tax ID numbers.  Many such companies that have made the transition since federal laws changed in 2005 are also registered with the Better Business Bureau or some such organization.

Because there are so many older people in Florida as well as a great many people in need of vehicular services Florida’s vehicle donation services are a very important component of many different charitable organizations.  For instance, there are more Meals on Wheels services in Florida than just about anywhere else, depending upon the county.

This means that cars that are in good working order (and the ones that receive the highest amount of allowable tax deduction) can easily be matched with a charity that could really use it.  In Florida, vehicle donation is also fueled by the large number of “little, old ladies” who have very nice (low miles!) cars they can no longer drive.  Many of these vehicles are donated, perhaps because their owners are now relaint upon such services.

Regardless of the reasons, one is in a position to get the fair market value of their vehicle as a tax deduction (sadly, not a credit to their total tax that tends to be about three times as valuable) in Florida.  Vehicle donations here are very often of actual vehicles rather than junker cars that are then scold for scrap on the wholesale market.  However, in other parts of the country, this is far more likely.

On the other hand, when you’ve got a perfectly good, running car that you’d like to donate in florida, vehicle donation levels are such that your car may not be good enough to compete with your neighbor’s old Cadillac.  Therefore, many cars that would be perfectly usable in other markets end up on the wholesale lot in Florida.

Vehicle donations, though still down (as they are in the rest of the country since 2005, are higher in Florida than the rest of the country.  However, if you are a winter-only visitor, don’t think that you have to donate your vehicle in Florida to have it go to a good use.  Indeed, if your car needs some minor repair to make it safe and functional for use, a little looking around back in your home state will find low-income people who need your car to help them get out of poverty.  In Florida, vehicle donation programs sometimes reject such cars for use.

If that wasn’t reason enough to carefully consider all your options as a Snowbird, a car that is sold on the wholesale market can net as little as 5% of what might be the “fair market value” of the car, as if you were to sell it yourself through a classified ad.  Therefore when presented with wholesale prices in Florida and vehicle donation to an educational charity that provides cars to needy folks up north, the larger benefit is obvious.

Of course, regardless of your location, you’ll need to have a free and clear title.  In Florida, vehicle donation laws require you to sign the title over.  If the vehicle is to be turned into scrap, either you or (more likely) the company that tows your vehicle away, will need to file an application for a demolition title.

As a general rule, there is no reason you should have to pay any fees when dealing with a for-profit agency.  If donating directly to a charity, you may elect to also donate the fees they need to pay to get the car in the hands of a needy individual, though they usually take care of it, too.  Florida vehicle donation laws are generally designed to allow charities to continue their good work while taking the profit motivation away from the unscrupulous companies that once thrived in the state, actually preying on needy populations.