Tap Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 We are going to put our house on the market soon. As part of this, we are getting rid of a lot of items. On top of that dd12 is at a private school that has part of your financial obligation in the form of donation to the school. This combined with our donations could easily be over $3-5,000 of value. Historically we only claimed about $400 per year. I worry that if we are audited due to this sudden increase, I won't have the proper documentation to prove it. For the school, we have official paper work. For other things like zoo memberships etc, we have the paper work that shows how much can be written off. What I don't know about is items that go to places like Goodwill or to other charities. Does a printed document like Deduct it offer enough protection? Or do I need more if it is over a certain amount? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I have had to fill out a form 8283 every year for years - our non-cash donations always exceed $500. (We haven't had a garage sale in 20 years -it's just easier to pile everything into the back of the van a few times a year and be done with it). We've never been audited, but I try to keep good records. I take a snapshot of the pile of stuff that's about to go to Goodwill, plus make a detailed list. I staple the photo, list, and receipt together for each donation. Then I either use the donation values suggested by Goodwill/Salvation Army (you can search for these online) or the It's Deductible values if I'm using Turbotax that year. I always used to fear that the 8283 was a red flag for audits, but it's apparently not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 I have had to fill out a form 8283 every year for years - our non-cash donations always exceed $500. (We haven't had a garage sale in 20 years -it's just easier to pile everything into the back of the van a few times a year and be done with it). We've never been audited, but I try to keep good records. I take a snapshot of the pile of stuff that's about to go to Goodwill, plus make a detailed list. I staple the photo, list, and receipt together for each donation. Then I either use the donation values suggested by Goodwill/Salvation Army (you can search for these online) or the It's Deductible values if I'm using Turbotax that year. I always used to fear that the 8283 was a red flag for audits, but it's apparently not. For photos, do you do extreme detail of each item or just a pix of a stack of items? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 The verification of charitable donations has gotten much tougher. We used TurboTax this year, and dh had to list every single item and its value. We kept a list and used Goodwill's valuation recs. For large donations, you should get a written receipt from the organization. I used to work for Block. Your big jump in donations may be a red flag to the IRS, but as long as you have proper documentation you should be okay. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 For photos, do you do extreme detail of each item or just a pix of a stack of items? I usually just take a pic of the huge pile in the back of the van. I think the detailed list is what's key. Look up IRS pub 526 for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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