This is a source of frustration for many people, and I don’t know exactly why they do it, but what they say is that Its Deductible prices during the year are estimates, and they are converted to their final values when you import the donations into TurboTax.
Regardless of the values that the program gives you, you are responsible for making sure that the donation values are actually reasonable for the items that you donated in the condition that you donated them in the retail market and part of the country where you live. If the IRS audit you, you will have to offer of proof that the donation values are reasonable, and some auditors have not accepted Its Deductible values. If you think that any values are not reasonable for your part of the country or your items, you can delete the donations and then re-enter them using a custom value.
The prices fluctuate for donations--they are based on the re-sale value on e-Bay, etc. and they can change over time.
This is a source of frustration for many people, and I don’t know exactly why they do it, but what they say is that Its Deductible prices during the year are estimates, and they are converted to their final values when you import the donations into TurboTax.
Regardless of the values that the program gives you, you are responsible for making sure that the donation values are actually reasonable for the items that you donated in the condition that you donated them in the retail market and part of the country where you live. If the IRS audit you, you will have to offer of proof that the donation values are reasonable, and some auditors have not accepted Its Deductible values. If you think that any values are not reasonable for your part of the country or your items, you can delete the donations and then re-enter them using a custom value.
From my experience, values imported into TurboTax do match the values shown in ItsDeductible. However, the market values in ItsDeductible change over time, since the market values of anything change over time, and no one can know the market value of anything at any current or future time. This also goes for other things like stocks, bonds, and real estate -- there's a reason why mutual funds price themselves only once per day, and it's at the end of the day to reflect the trading which has already happened. So Intuit can determine the market value of your items only after the day you donated them.
Why it fluctuates so much after the end of the year, though, I don't know. I would think within a month or so after the donation date, the estimates would be set.
Oh, and it's easy to compare, if you download a copy of your donation summary during the year and keep it aside and then do the same later on and compare the two, which it sounds like is what the OP has done.
This is because the IRS determines what the value of your item is not the software. Just like they delete things every year, soon you will not be able to deduct anything. Taxes for rich get deductions, poor hold on you might get something
“This is because the IRS determines what the value of your item is not the software.”
What? No, they don’t.
The reason customers use ItsDeductible in the first place is to help appraise the items they’re donating
I recently downloaded my deductions to my Turbo Tax return. Since then I noticed I mistakenly missed
listing a few deductible items to additional organizations. Can I just add my items on Its Deductible and download again without jeopardizing the work I've already completed?
I enjoy donating food and clothes at the best of times when it is not needed. When it is needed, it makes me feel that much more accomplished.
I have used this for years and you have to remember is if a blouse is worth $5 on feb 1 2019 by the time you file 2019 tax on March 2020 that blouse is now worth $4.59
it must adjust to what the IRS will accept is the value at time you file, not the value at the time you donated it