Do I need supporting documentation for a charitable donation of clothing, as long as no one item is valued at $500 or more?

[clamage45]

Example: Donate 200 items valued at $50 each, total $10,000. Assume I meet all percentage-of-AGI limits.

[Bsch4477 · Accepted solution]

Noncash Charitable Contributions — applies to deduction claims totaling more than $500 for all contributed items.  If a donor is claiming over $5,000 in contribution value, there is a section labeled “Donee Acknowledgement” in Section B, Part IV of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8283 that must be completed.

[clamage45]

Thanks!

[Opus 17]

If audited, the IRS will not give you credit for any deduction that you cannot prove to their satisfaction.

You absolutely require documentation of all your charitable donations.  You are required to have a list of items donated that includes a description of the item in sufficient detail to determine it’s fair market value at the time of the donation.  You are also required to have a receipt from the organization. The receipt does not need to specify the values, and most organizations won’t specify values, but you need to have some kind of documentation that shows how you determined the value (thrift store prices, eBay prices, etc.). If the items were not originally purchased new by you, you need to have documentation of how you acquired the item because the donation value of gift items may be different than the fair market value.  

If the total of all your non-cash donations is $500 or more, regardless of individual values, you must include form 8283 with your tax return. TurboTax will do this automatically. If the value of any donation of a single item or group of similar items is more than $5000, then you must have a signed appraisal of the items, and you must mail to the IRS a copy of form 8283 that is signed by the appraiser and by a financially responsible person at the charity.  You will mail the original signed form 8283 to the IRS after you e-file the rest of your return. TurboTax will print the required cover letter.

The IRS does not offer any helpful guidance on what constitutes “a group of similar items.” It would certainly apply to a comic book collection or something similar. It probably applies to large donations of used clothing and other household items.

Even if you do not reach the $5000 or $500 thresholds, you are required to have a receipt from the charity and your own itemized list that you can use to substantiate your donation and determine the value of the items. We have seen complaints on this forum from people who were audited and whose charitable donations were denied for lack of sufficient proof.