Possible Cap on Personal Charitable Contribs:

#5 04-25-2005, 02:42 AM

"Rhickey" <Rhickey[at]triad.rr.com> wrote:
- quote -

> "Angrie.Woman" <spamspameggsbaconandspam[at]spam.com> wrote:
> > "MTW" <mtwingcpa[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > Angrie.Woman wrote:

> > > > In releasing its report, the committee's staff provided no
> > > > proof that taxpayers are overestimating the value of their
> > > > used clothing and household items; it merely assumes that
> > > > they are. Our experience is quite the opposite: If anything,
> > > > taxpayers tend to undervalue their donated goods.

> > > I would be happy to testify under oath that the majority of
> > > deductions I see in this area appear to be over-valued, or NOT
> > > otherwise supported by adequate documentation.

> > How do you suggest documenting garbage bags of used clothing
> > left for pick-up by charity?

> List on the left side of a piece of paper each item that is
> donated.
> On the right side list the thrift store value of each item
> times the number of items.
> Add the right side.
> That's your deduction.

Thanks! That's basically what I do. I keep a sheet pf paper
beside the "charity" box and I write down what goes in.
Then I staple the receipt from the store (which usually just
reads "bags") to it.

Thanks again,
Angela

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#4 04-20-2005, 10:06 PM

"Angrie.Woman" <spamspameggsbaconandspam[at]spam.com> wrote:
- quote -

> "MTW" <mtwingcpa[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Angrie.Woman wrote:

> > > In releasing its report, the committee's staff provided no
> > > proof that taxpayers are overestimating the value of their
> > > used clothing and household items; it merely assumes that
> > > they are. Our experience is quite the opposite: If anything,
> > > taxpayers tend to undervalue their donated goods.

> > I would be happy to testify under oath that the majority of
> > deductions I see in this area appear to be over-valued, or NOT
> > otherwise supported by adequate documentation.

> How do you suggest documenting garbage bags of used clothing
> left for pick-up by charity?

List on the left side of a piece of paper each item that is
donated.

On the right side list the thrift store value of each item
times the number of items.

Add the right side.

That's your deduction.

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#3 04-19-2005, 02:37 PM

"MTW" <mtwingcpa[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
- quote -

> Angrie.Woman wrote:

> > In releasing its report, the committee's staff provided no
> > proof that taxpayers are overestimating the value of their
> > used clothing and household items; it merely assumes that
> > they are. Our experience is quite the opposite: If anything,
> > taxpayers tend to undervalue their donated goods.

> I would be happy to testify under oath that the majority of
> deductions I see in this area appear to be over-valued, or NOT
> otherwise supported by adequate documentation.

How do you suggest documenting garbage bags of used clothing
left for pick-up by charity?

A, a donator.

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#2 04-19-2005, 02:37 PM

"TaxSrv" <n3_eu[at]comcast.net> wrote:
- quote -

> "Angrie.Woman" wrote:

> > " Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation is considering a
> > proposal to cap charitable deductions for contributions of
> > clothing and household items at $500 a year per taxpayer."
> > ...
> > "Our experience is quite the opposite: If anything,
> > taxpayers tend to undervalue their donated goods."
> > ...
> > It's a letter to the editor, that goes on farther at the
> > link provided.

> Indeed, but it's a letter from the CEO of Goodwill Industries
> International, the big umbrella org. Goodwill itself admits that a
> tiny % of what we donate winds up in their stores. Clothing is sold
> off in bulk to the third world, or to recyclers, or cut into rags --
> worth up to $1.50/pound. Here's a sample article describing what
> really happens to our donated stuff::
> http://newsobserver.com/business/sto...-7400946c.html

> I see this as similar in abuse to donated automobiles, on which
> Congress put a big damper. Just as in the case of autos, the retail
> price in a store, enhanced by a marketing infrastructure, is not true
> FMV. For clothing, FMV to us should be about what one can expect in a
> yard sale -- not much at all.

Indeed! In my case, I ussally value it at what I would have
priced it at my yard sale. ($1 for jeans, .50 for baby
clothes) but the truth of the matter is that I *couldn't*
sell it my yard sale.

A

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#1 04-18-2005, 04:12 PM

"Angrie.Woman" wrote:

- quote -

> " Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation is considering a
> proposal to cap charitable deductions for contributions of
> clothing and household items at $500 a year per taxpayer."
> ...
> "Our experience is quite the opposite: If anything,
> taxpayers tend to undervalue their donated goods."
> ...
> It's a letter to the editor, that goes on farther at the
> link provided.

> Indeed, but it's a letter from the CEO of Goodwill Industries
International, the big umbrella org. Goodwill itself admits that a

tiny % of what we donate winds up in their stores. Clothing is sold
off in bulk to the third world, or to recyclers, or cut into rags --
worth up to $1.50/pound. Here's a sample article describing what
really happens to our donated stuff::

http://newsobserver.com/business/sto...-7400946c.html

- quote -

> I see this as similar in abuse to donated automobiles, on which
Congress put a big damper. Just as in the case of autos, the retail

price in a store, enhanced by a marketing infrastructure, is not true
FMV. For clothing, FMV to us should be about what one can expect in a
yard sale -- not much at all.

- quote -

> The article hints that the problem of Goodwill and similar (c)(3)s may
be they now feel they're in competition with upstart, for-profit

entities, maybe even to the point of depressing the bulk price per ton
Goodwill and similar orgs receive for our donated stuff? A/k/a
"strictly business."

- quote -

> The article does say many people donate stuff merely if it will be put
to good use somehow and/or help the environment, and well over half of

t/p's do not itemize deductions. And thus making the Goodwill CEO's
comments rather disingenuous, IMO. Score one for the avg,
well-intentioned, work-a-day t/p with a standard deduction; zero for
the Goodwill CEO whose handsome annual salary is in the public record
per their IRS Form 990. :-) [I looked it up]

Fred F.

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04-18-2005, 03:34 PM

Angrie.Woman wrote:

- quote -

> In releasing its report, the committee's staff provided no
> proof that taxpayers are overestimating the value of their
> used clothing and household items; it merely assumes that
> they are. Our experience is quite the opposite: If anything,
> taxpayers tend to undervalue their donated goods.

> I would be happy to testify under oath that the majority of
deductions I see in this area appear to be over-valued, or NOT

otherwise supported by adequate documentation.

MTW

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#-1 04-17-2005, 04:48 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2005Mar10.html

Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation is considering a
proposal to cap charitable deductions for contributions of
clothing and household items at $500 a year per taxpayer. It
estimates that this limit would result in a $1.9 billion
savings over 10 years by stopping tax cheats from inflating
the value of their donations to charity. Unfortunately, if
this proposal became law, it would have far-reaching and
troubling consequences.

In releasing its report, the committee's staff provided no
proof that taxpayers are overestimating the value of their
used clothing and household items; it merely assumes that
they are. Our experience is quite the opposite: If anything,
taxpayers tend to undervalue their donated goods. The
Internal Revenue Service also already provides taxpayers
with the tools for compliance with respect to this section
of the tax code.

It's a letter to the editor, that goes on farther at the
link provided.

A

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