Donated Inherited Items

[tatedragon]

I inherited 14 storage units from my mom 2 years ago when she passed.  She owned a small craft business and the majority of the items in these storage units was inventory and parts to create inventory.  I opened a small thrift store to try an sell these items.  I did that in 2019.  I had to close in February 2020 so I decided to just donate much of the inventory and other items I had left in the store and storage units.  It has been slow going and I have cleared out and donated items from a number of these units.  I have about 25 donation receipts for 2020 that reflect large truck loads of boxes and crates of items all the way to car load's of boxes and crates.  Most of the items are in new condition.  I made general lists of what was in each container and some photos but there is so much of it!   I donated one entire storage unit to The Salvation Army where a truck came and collected the items.  I have no Idea how to put a value on this stuff as it was a 10x20 unit full to nearly the ceiling. I took photos of the unit beforehand, but I didn't make a list of each item as there were hundreds of items in there. I don't want to get into trouble with the IRS for claiming too much and I don't want to claim too little - I am still paying the storage unit fees each month for each unit.  Then there are the other 24 receipts that have the number of boxes or bags I donated listed.  All of the units are 10x20's and loaded!  What can I legally do? Is there percentage I can use to calculate FMV? I didn't get any appraisals.

[DaveF1006]

This is going to be difficult trying to determine a value of your donated goods, especially since you have a large volume. With the large volume that you have, my guess is that the deduction may range from $500 to $5000. Assuming if this is the case, here are the IRS substantiation requirements from this IRS link .

If you claim a deduction over $500 but not over $5,000 for a noncash charitable contribution, you must complete Form 8283 and have the Contemporaneous written acknowledgment (defined earlier). Your completed Form 8283 must include:

1. Your name and taxpayer identification number,

2. The name and address of the qualified organization,

3. The date of the charitable contribution, and

4. The following information about the contributed property:

   1. A description of the property in sufficient detail under the circumstances (taking into account the value of the property) for a person not generally familiar with the type of property to understand that the description is of the contributed property;

   2. The fair market value of the property on the contribution date and the method used in figuring the fair market value;

   3. In the case of real or tangible property, its condition;

   4. In the case of tangible personal property, whether the donee has certified it for a use related to the purpose or function constituting the donee’s basis for exemption under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code or, in the case of a governmental unit, an exclusively public purpose;

   5. In the case of securities, the name of the issuer, the type of securities, and whether they were publicly traded as of the date of the contribution;

   6. How you got the property, for example, by purchase, gift, bequest, inheritance, or exchange;

   7. The approximate date you got the property or, if created, produced, or manufactured by or for you, the approximate date the property was substantially completed; and

   8. The cost or other basis, and any adjustments to the basis, of property held less than 12 months and, if available, the cost or other basis of property held 12 months or more. This requirement, however, doesn't apply to publicly traded securities.

   9.  If you claim a deduction of over $5,000 for a noncash charitable contribution, you must have the Contemporaneous written acknowledgment (defined earlier), obtain a qualified written appraisal of the donated property from a qualified appraiser,

This sounds like a very large donation. The larger the donation, the stricter is the substantiation requirements. in fact, these types of donations are likely to trigger an audit thus you must be able to substantiate your deduction.