According to Harlan Lunsford <hlunsfordns[at]bellsouth.net> :

- quote -

The advantages of donation are:

1. Getting to consummate the transaction almost immediately,
rather than taking weeks or months to find a private buyer,
during which time owner continues to be responsible for
parking, insuring, inspecting, and registering the vehicle.
This is particularly an issue when one has just exceeded the
number of available parking spaces by buying a replacement
vehicle. It is less of a factor if one has the space to
store a non-operating vehicle on one's own property.

2. Dealing with a recognized responsible entity rather than
taking the risks of dealing with a (possibly flaky)
stranger.

3. Feeling good about benefiting a worthwhile cause,
particularly if the charity plans to use the vehicle in
their work rather than wholesaling it.

Given these advantages, I'm personally willing to consider a
substantial discount from the amount I might theoretically
hope to get in order to have a quick, clean transaction. In
theory, one could also sell to a dealer to get advantages 1
and 2, but I personally drew the line at accepting dealer
offers of less than 5% of Blue Book for cars that were still
in good running condition.

--
Dave Wallace (Remove NOSPAM from my address to email me)
It is quite humbling to realize that the storage occupied by
the longest line from a typical Usenet posting is sufficient
to provide a state space so vast that all the computation
power in the world can not conquer it.

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Herb Smith wrote:
- quote -

Probably the part about what WILL be the effective date
which is still up in the air. Since each chamber has it's
own ideas, they bill will have to be reconciled in
conference committee. Then we'll see.

- quote -

What I've heard is that the purpose of each bill is to set
the FMV at a more realistic measure. How many times have
clients brought their receipts for preparation of a tax
return only to use a Blue Book value for a car in above
average condition?

And should a client ask me what to do, whether to sell his
extra vehicle or donate it, I always counsel sell it.
Better to get maybe 200$ for the clunker rather than take a
tax deduction for some beefed up value of 500$ and a
marginal tax rate of 15%.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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"David" <kwmail8[at]lycos.com> wrote:

- quote -

No one ever knows what Congress may do-not even them!

Wayne Brasch, CPA, M. S. Taxation

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kwmail8[at]lycos.com (David) wrote:

- quote -

What is the purpose of your donation? Is it merely to score
a "tax deduction"? If so, it is probably a bad idea, as
selling the car to a willing buyer will put more dollars in
your pocket. In any case, your deduction would be limited to
the FMV of the vehicle (your vehicle, not some average value
in the Blue Book), or what you could sell it for to a
willing buyer. This has always been the case. If the
supposed value is over $5,000, then an independent appraisal
is necessary to establish such value.

- quote -

What part of "effective date" don't you understand?

- quote -

The effective date is not when the President signs the
legislation, unless that is left open in the bill. It is the
date specified, which may be retroactive if the signing, etc
is delayed.

- quote -

Why would it matter? You ARE going to claim the FMV aren't you?

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kwmail8[at]lycos.com (David) wrote:

- quote -

It would be unworkable to apply retroactively. If it were to
pass and be signed in the Senate form, it would apply to
donations made after June 30, but not to earlier donations.

If it were to take effect in the Senate form, used-car
donations would be limited to the amount the charity
actually resold the donated car for, and the charity would
have to furnish an acknowledgement with the sale price to
the donor within 30 days of sale. The exceptions are for
donations less than $500 and for donations of vehicles that
the charity uses instead of resells.

--
Chris Green

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David wrote:

- quote -

Just as a general comment -- tax laws CAN be retroactive.
The dividend tax reduction applied to tax YEARS ending
December 31, 2003 or later, even though passed in 2003.

Others may recall an estate tax increase which applied
to all estates not closed at the time the law passed, even
though estate tax is normally established at the time
of death.

My recollection is that the proposed law actually
relaxes existing rules on donation of property, although
the current rules aren't well-publicized.

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kwmail8[at]lycos.com (David) writes:

- quote -

Since they ran Ms. Cleo out of business you're on your own
when trying to figure out what Congress is going to do.

Both versions add contemporaneous statement provisions, so I
think it's doubtful that either version would be
retroactive. If you're planning such a contribution, I
think you'll be safe if you don't dawdle. (This is the kind
of tax increase Congress loves in an election year.) If you
wear suspenders and a belt, get an appraisal before you
donate it.

Phil Marti
Topeka, KS

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I am in the process of donating a good car to charity and
news reported Senate passed "S 1637" (www.congress.gov) on
May 11th which limits deduction amount at the selling price
of your donated car (the passed bill says effective date of
June 30th 2004). There is also a house version bill HR 3967
and HR 2896 that is on the way (effective date of March 12,
2004).

Not knowing much about how govenment works. Is there any
tax professional in this group that can shed some light on
whether this may be retroactive and apply to me? Common
sense says it is effective when the president sign and the
bill becomes law but I don't know much about the usual tax
laws practices (Specially Bush put it in his 2005 budget
which means the revenue due to the new law needs to be
generated for tax year 2004. right?)

I called the IRS and they say they don't know since the law
has not passed yet. But I need to get some ideas
immediately. If you know some ways to get to the answer or
some thoughts, please let me know.

Thanks.

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