Tax question - donation of clothing, etc. to Goodwill

[timneh_mom]

So, when you donate stuff to Goodwill or other similar charity, when you figure out what to deduct for taxes, how do you figure a price? Do you use the price of what it would cost to replace everything, or what you could actually get for it?

Some clothes I gave away were 15 years old... some lamps from the 70's

There is no way some of that stuff would be worth more than a few dollars but if I were to replace every single thing, it would cost quite a bit...

We never donated on such a large scale until today, so how do you figure this stuff out? They didn't have any IRS forms, I'll probably go get one next week after they get more.

[velochic]

Turbo tax has a feature that helps you determine what you can claim on your itemized form. Quicken may, as well.

The IRS publication 561 has all the info (and more) that you will want about it here.

[MyTwoAs]

The value is what it would receive if you were to sell it today, not replace it (unfortunately hehe). I use the ItsDeductible program that is bundled with TurboTax to determine value. If you don't use that, you can use "thrift shop resale value" I believe - it has been several years since I did it without the help of a program.

[Ilovelife]

You can claim the "thrift shop value" or "resale value" of used items, and the purchase price of brand new items (like new toys you donate to Toys for Tots or food you buy and deliver to the food shelf). The Salvation Army has a valuation guide that might be helpful to you: http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use...3?openDocument

This is for the Eastern US, so I guess they may have variations for different regions? HTH

[Mandynee22]

Check online for a goodwill list. When I donated stuff to the salvation army, they gave me a "price list" that said different ranges of prices for all kinds of stuff. It's an honor system as to how much you say everything is worth. I even wrote my own reciept LOL