Get The Most From Your Old Vehicle Through Car Donation

Why donate a car when you could get some cash for it from the used car market? This is the first question that will come to the mind of anyone who is struggling to grow an ever receding bank balance, especially when the IRS keep dipping into everyone’s savings accounts. The truth is that through car donations anyone can save more taxes than they would get by selling their used car.

You may have been trying to get the best price for your old vehicle with a great deal of despair. You would have bumped into some really good hagglers that have nearly convinced you to dump the old car in the car pound because it is not worth anything at all. The fact is, that they really know the value of your car and don’t want you to know it. To cut a long story short, you should consider what most people do. You should go in for car donation.

Here, I am sure you will ask yourself how in heavens name can you gain from giving your old trusted car away for free? The truth is that apart from the Almighty blessing you with good fortune you do earn money in a round-about way.

The charity will put a price on your car for you and provide you with a receipt. You can produce this receipt and claim tax deductions for the amount of your car, which will in most cases be more than what you would have got if you sold it in the used car market.

When you choose to do a good deed by going in for the donate car program offered by many online car donation sites you will not only be doing society a good deed but you will get to place the amount on your tax deductions as well. Consider this, you would have gotten a few hundred dollars at the most for your car.

But the car donation portal will find a charity that is recognized and authorized to accept cars as donations. They can then place a price on the car or they can find a buyer for it. The price they get for your car is the amount you can claim in deductions.

The problem here is that not all charities are entitled to accept car donations. If you end up finding one of these and donate your car you may not be able to claimtax deductions on the car donation you so gleefully choose to do.

However, the best way to go about car donation is to let the professionals handle it for you. You will have to see to paper work and follow through with the transfer of the vehicle this si all very time consuming and technical. Let the onlinecar donation service handle it for you and you just concentrate on your tax returns. Car donations can help save you a lot of money while some charity can benefit from it too.

How to Make a Sizable Charitable Donation From your Ira – Tax Free

If you are over 70 1/2 years old, want to make a gift for a special charitable project, but your only liquid asset is your IRA, I have good news for you.

On August 17, 2006, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006) was signed into law. This nearly 1,000 page piece of legislation marked the most sweeping changes to the pension arena in 30 years.

Let me give you two common examples that contain problems faced by seniors solved by PPA 2006…

Roger and Claire are retired. Roger spent his working career in the aerospace industry. He was more than well compensated and over the years accumulated a very large 401(k) plan. When he retired, he rolled his 401(k) into an IRA. Other than their home, the IRA is far and away their biggest asset.

For years, Roger and Claire have been supporters of the Humane Society. Their local chapter is building an entire new wing on to their kennels. Roger and Claire would love to make a significant donation—somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 to $100,000.

Bill and Diane both worked during their entire careers. Mary taught 6th grade for 40 years. Bill was a career military officer. After his retirement, he spent another 20 years working in the private sector. Like Roger, Bill has a large IRA.

When Bill turned 70 1/2, he was required to start taking the minimum required distributions each year from his IRA. But Bill and Diane don’t need the income; their other retirement income sources are more than adequate. Nevertheless, Bill must take these RMDs and pay tax on them as income.

Bill and Diane have been active in their church all their married life. Their church just bought a new organ. The church did not pay cash for the organ; the majority of it was financed. Bill and Diane would like to pay off the organ.

Both Roger and Claire and Bill and Diane are warm-hearted people. But, prior to the passage of PPA 2006, their generosity could have been thwarted by several things…

1. In both cases, their principal liquid asset was an IRA. Neither couple had other assets from which to make a gift.

2. If the large sums were withdrawn from their IRAs, they would be subject to ordinary income tax.

3. If given to a charity, rules which limit the amount that could be deducted as a charitable contribution would have to be followed. This means that they may still have to pay tax on a portion of their IRA withdrawals.

But thanks to provisions in PPA 2006, Roger and Claire can make their gift to the Humane Society and Bill and Diane can pay off their church’s new organ using money from their IRAs and not pay any tax on the withdrawals. But they have to follow the rules…

1. First, you must be at least 70 1/2.

2. You can give up to $100,000.

3. This only applies to 2006 and 2007.

4. You can’t withdraw the money from your IRA and then give it to your charitable cause. The transfer must be made directly from the custodian of the IRA to the charity.

5. These gifts, called IRA charitable rollovers, count towards your required minimum distribution for the year.

6. IRA charitable rollovers are not permitted for gifts to donor advised funds and supporting organizations. However, there are some exceptions that apply to funds held by community foundations: scholarship, field of interest, and designated funds qualify. So the first step is to contact your intended cause to see how they are classified and whether or not the law allows an IRA charitable rollover gift.

7. The gift must be a pure gift. In other words, there can’t be any personal benefit strings attached like tickets to an event.

8. You don’t have to report the IRA charitable rollover as income.

9. However, you don’t get a charitable deduction for your gift. Sorry, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

This new law is a real winner. In these two examples, the Humane Society is able to build new kennels and a church pays off an organ they thought they were going to have to finance. The donors were able to make it happen despite the fact that the only real asset they had was an IRA.

I do not dispense tax advice. It is imperative that you consult with your tax advisor and the charity to make sure it is qualified and that the gift is made in the proper manner.

Great Benefits From Motor Vehicle Donations

Buying a new vehicle also means the tedious task of ditching your old one.  Selling your vehicle for instance would entail that you advertise, is available at all times to entertain possible buyers and deal with the necessary paperwork.  And these tasks are possible only if you do not hold an eight-hour job.  But what if you do?  Then selling your motor vehicle is simply not an option for you and disappointingly, so is buying a new one.  Luckily, motor vehicle donations are an available option aside from selling.  Motor vehicle donations are becomingly popular as a means of ditching an old motor vehicle because of its convenience feature.

 

Motor Vehicle Donations are usually handled by vehicle donations services who act as intermediaries to charitable institutions.  Since you will not receive any currency from your motor vehicle donations, the process of donating your vehicle is made convenient and cost-free as possible.  If you donate your vehicle, the only things you will have to do are: (1) call the toll-free number of a vehicle donations service and (2) fill-out an application form.  There will be no more advertising, entertaining buyers and paperwork for you and this definitely spells convenience compared to selling your car.

 

Moreover, you do not have to worry about any needed refurbishing of your vehicle.  Vehicle donations services accept all kinds of vehicle in any condition.  Upon pick-up of your car, the vehicle donations services hands you a receipt in return.  They then take the liberty to refurbish the car if they see a need to.  After refurbishing, these services may deal with motor vehicle donations in two ways.  They either sell the vehicles at auctions or they transfer vehicles in good running condition to charity.  The charity then donates it to a needy individual or family or may choose to use it in their operations.  If the vehicle is sold, the proceeds likewise are transferred to charity and accordingly used for their causes.  Whatever way your donated vehicle is used, you surely help those who are in need.

 

Even if you do not gain any currency in return for your motor vehicle donations, you still earn some monetary value from it.  Motor vehicle donations are tax deductible.  The federal government allows tax deductions not exceeding a gross sales amount of $500 (vehicles are usually sold at auctions for $200-$500 only).

 

In the past, the IRS allowed tax deductions from motor vehicle donations equivalent to the fair market values.  However, they found out that the claimed fair market values did not always consider the vehicle’s condition.  And, individuals used motor vehicle donations only to get large tax breaks.  So, the federal tax legislation was revised to allow tax deductions based on the gross sales amount not exceeding $500.  And, allow tax deductions equivalent to the fair market value only if (1) improvements were done on the vehicle and (2) if the vehicle is used directly in charitable causes.

 

Donating old vehicles through motor vehicle donations is definitely fast and convenient.  But before you dial the toll-free number of a vehicle donations services, there are several things your must consider.  To make sure that your donation goes to charity and your tax deduction is valid, you may also want to check their availability in your locality.  Motor vehicle donations can be cost-free but only if the vehicle donations services is available in your locality.  If not, you will probably have to spend for your vehicle transfer.

Car Donation – What Information To Expect From A Charity After A Car Donation?

“You can wish to donate a car in order to have peace of mind for making some contribution to the society. Another reason for donating the car is to create space for a new one, when the current vehicle”

You can wish to donate a car in order to have peace of mind for making some contribution to the society. Another reason for donating the car is to create space for a new one, when the current vehicle becomes expensive to maintain. A final and appreciated reason for can donation is the tax advantage one can earn. However, the new tax laws have become little strict towards car donation tax deductions. Thus, you would like to have everything done legally and for this, the charitable organization can help you greatly.

After the process of car donation is over, your next big task is to prepare documents to get tax deduction advantage while failing your annual tax returns. So, here is the information about facts that you must expect from the charity to get ready with these documents.

In general, the charitable organization receiving the car donated by you should provide you with an acknowledgment containing information like:

• Your name and address.

• Information about the vehicle, including its make and model.

• Vehicle identification number of the car donated by you.

• Most importantly, the acknowledgment should mention that you have not received anything in return of the car donated by you. If this information is missing, you are not counted as eligible for tax deduction benefits. read more http://www.cardonation.pannipa.com/2009/09/what-information-to-expect-from-a-charity-after-a-car-donation/

Autos for Life: “Calling All Cars!”.: An article from: National Right to Life News

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Autos for Life: “Calling All Cars!”.: An article from: National Right to Life News

Charities Can Benefit From your Credit Card Spending

When asked, most people will happily give a donation to a charity. Some people will give their donation to a street collector armed with a collection tin, while some will donate to a sponsored event being undertaken by a friend or work colleague. Other people will donate via a direct debit from their bank account and others still will buy products that promise a proportion to any number of charities. However, there is a method that allows people to spend and donate money at the same time: a charity credit card.

Many people when considering a credit card will normally choose a generic card offered by their bank or credit card provider. However, charity credit cards are a simple hassle-free way of supporting your favourite charity at no extra cost, simply by carrying on with your normal, everyday spending. Furthermore, opting for a charity credit card doesn’t mean you need forego a lower rate or lose out on preferential balance transfers.

Charity credit cards work by paying a small donation to a charity for each approved application, plus a percentage of any spend made using the card in the future. Initial donations for approved applications typically vary between £10-£20, with further donations usually between 0.25% and 0.5%. There are numerous charity credit cards in circulation, so the likelihood is you’ll be able to find a credit card that supports your favourite charity.

The Co-operative Bank recently launched a credit card which supports homeless charity, Shelter while charities such as British Heart Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, Childline and Breakthrough Breast Cancer can all be supported through credit cards provided by American credit card issuer MBNA, who also operates a large number of charity cards and other affinity credit cards. Other charity credit cards include American Express’ Red credit card which helps to fight the HIV/AIDS emergency in Africa, Beneficial Bank’s RSPCA card which helps vulnerable domestic animals and Cancer Research UK, which is issued by Halifax and funds research into various forms of cancer.

However some financial analysts believe that charity credit cards might sway individuals away from better deals elsewhere, claiming that a lower rate card could leave cardholders with more money from which they could donate. Charity campaigners argue that money saved is unlikely to be seen by charities, however, and while many others are grateful for donations received through charity credit cards – however small they may be.

When choosing your next credit card, why not find out if your favourite charity could benefit from your spending? But whether or not you decide to apply for a charity credit card, there are several online resources that can help compare credit cards – both affinity and generic – allowing you to make an informed decision about the card that best suits your needs.

What Information To Expect From Charity After Car Donation?

You can wish to donate a car in order to have peace of mind for making some contribution to the society. Another reason for donating the car is to create space for a new one, when the current vehicle becomes expensive to maintain. A final and appreciated reason for can donation is the tax advantage one can earn. However, the new tax laws have become little strict towards car donation tax deductions. Thus, you would like to have everything done legally and for this, the charitable organization can help you greatly.

After the process of car donation is over, your next big task is to prepare documents to get tax deduction advantage while failing your annual tax returns. So, here is the information about facts that you must expect from the charity to get ready with these documents.

In general, the charitable organization receiving the car donated by you should provide you with an acknowledgement containing information like:

• Your name and address.

• Information about the vehicle, including its make and model.

• Vehicle identification number of the car donated by you.

• Most importantly, the acknowledgement should mention that you have not received anything in return of the car donated by you. If this information is missing, you are not counted as eligible for tax deduction benefits.

• Information that must also be available on the acknowledgement is that statement that the charity representatives or owners don’t have any blood relation with you.

After you donate car to a charitable organization, there are two possibilities that can arise. First, the charity might sell the car to raise funds for people in need. Second, the organization might keep the car for carrying out organizational work. The following sections will guide you about information that you must expect from charity in these situations.

Car Used By Charity

If the car is used by the charity, IRS would like to receive following information in the acknowledgement given by the charity:

• Declaration that the donated car will be used by the charitable organization.

• Information about the purpose of use and time duration for which it is used.

• Information about repair carried out on the car after donation.

• Declaration that the vehicle would not be sold before the mentioned time period expires.

An important point worth mentioning is in the case, when charity gives the car to a family in need. For this, the acknowledgement should mention it as a charitable action of the organization.

Car Sold By Charity

If the car is sold or auctioned by the charity, it must add the following pieces of information to the acknowledgement:

• Date of car sale.

• Amount received from the sale.

• Declaration of the transaction to be an arm’s length, which means that you are unrelated to the final recipients.

Ignoring any of these facts can deprive you from the tax deduction advantage. So, make sure that you get suitably rewarded for your contribution towards charity by availing the necessary information.

Should you donate your car?: An article from: Strategic Finance

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How To Stop Thefts From Charity Donation Bags

This article is to warn people about thieves who steal charity donation bags from generous givers, who leave them outside their homes for collection.To give you an idea of the problem I have re-printed these letters from my local paper.

 LETTER ONE

 THE other day I was waiting at Meriden bus stop with about eight other people and saw the Lifeboat bag for collection at a house opposite the bus stop. A gentleman at the bus stop walked over picked up the bag and brought it over to the stop sat on the kerb and went through the bag showing his wife or girlfriend the clothing. She stood there laughing. The bus came and he took it with him. Everyone was aghast and we all boarded amazed. The family who donated to this charity never knew their kindness did not reach its destination. It was a despicable act. A resident

 ———————

 LETTER TWO

 ON November 6 I put two bags of good quality clothing on my front porch, when a white van drove up and a young boy in a sweatshirt, with hood on his head, came to pick up my bag. I asked him if he was from the Lifeboat Charity, he only said ‘ha’ and ran off with the bags to the white van and they drove off. Now I will not put a charity bag in my front porch anymore. If I have clothing for charity now I will use the number on the bag and tell them to ring my bell for collecting. Local resident

 ————————–

 LETTER THREE

 I put a bag of clothes out last week and a man in a white van collected it. He showed an ID but it was in his inside pocket, and it is easy to get a fake one. The van has no name on it. He didn’t even say thanks but hurried away. I wish now I had taken the van registration number. He had a young man in the passenger seat who I wouldn’t have thought was needed. Name and address supplied

 —————————–

As you can see by most of the letters above, these thefts are very well organised. They even cynically use under-age children,as they know they are too young to be prosecuted. It is a double tragedy because at the time of writing this article, the brave volunteers of the RNLI are busy rescuing people who have been flooded out of their homes in England`s Cumbrian Lake District.

 

So how can we prevent this from happening in the future.A good idea, is outlined in letter number two, who suggested to phone the number on the bag, and ask them to ring the bell for collecting.

 

However this does not get back the money stolen by these callous thieves.So I am asking that anyone reading this article should click on the RNLI link below and buy an item in the RNLI shop or make a small donation.

 

 

World Water Day Video from charity: water

March 22nd is World Water Day. More than 1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. For $20 a person, non-profit charity: water funds clean water solutions like shallow wells, deep wells, rainwater harvesting systems, and spring protections to provide people in need with clean and safe drinking water. Find out how you can help give one person clean drinking water at www.charitywater.org charity: water’s latest promo video features the well-drilling work we fund in the forgotten Central African Republic. Directed by Simon Willows, “Time Bomb” track donated by Beck.

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