Many people have been donating their used cars to charity instead of going through the process of reselling it in
classified ads or on eBay etc. The practice has become quite popular as folks get a tax break of the fair market value
of the car. But after a new law goes into effect January 1st the taxes you’ll actually be credited for will be what the
car sells for at auction, usually much less. The example USA Today uses is a car with a blue book value of $1500 car
that sells for $350 at auction will only equal a $350 tax break. Charities are pissed. They believe this will return
people to selling their cars again and taking away decent revenue for the needy. There are some legitimate reasons for
Congress’ actions but the resulting law seems to be extreme retaliation instead of trying to fix the problem. The
article is worth a read.
New law makes donating your old car less desirable
Many people have been donating their used cars to charity instead of going through the process of reselling it in classified ads or on eBay etc. The practice has become quite popular as folks get a tax break of the fair market value of the car. But after a new law goes into effect January 1st the taxes you’ll actually be credited for will be what the car sells for at auction, usually much less. The example USA Today uses is a car with a blue book value of $1500 car that sells for $350 at auction will only equal a $350 tax break. Charities are pissed. They believe this will return people to selling their cars again and taking away decent revenue for the needy. There are some legitimate reasons for Congress’ actions but the resulting law seems to be extreme retaliation instead of trying to fix the problem. The article is worth a read.