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New Member
posted May 31, 2019 5:03:43 PM

Hi, How can i claim the text books i donate? the place i'm donating is nonprofit organization and recognized by IRS.I also need help in determining the value i can claim

I have many books and some of the revisions are not the latest but i paid hundreds of dollars when i bought them. the books going to Africa so the revision shouldn't matter. My question is if i paid for book $250 for NEW book and the revision is not the latest anymore. Let's say the latest revision is also $250 for NEW book and used book starts at $130. can I claim $130 even though the revision is not latest?

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5 Replies
Level 7
May 31, 2019 5:03:44 PM

When you donate textbooks to a charity, you can take the value of the book at the time of donation.  In the case of an expensive book, look at sites that sell used books or eBay.  You may use the value of the same book in identical condition.  Make sure you get a receipt from the organization you donate to.

New Member
May 31, 2019 5:03:45 PM

Since these goes out of country where edition doesn't matter can't i use the value of the latest edition even though mine is not that? like one book the latest edition used condition is worth about $110 but my edition just because it is old is about $3 now!! the books will go to Africa as donation....

Level 15
May 31, 2019 5:03:46 PM

Try this tool:
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/itsdeductible/">https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/itsdeductible/</a>
My local Goodwill was recently selling textbooks at $1 each.

Level 7
May 31, 2019 5:03:48 PM

You can only use the value of the SAME edition.  Since this is the case, I would use ItsDeductible and just claim the amount they have for textbooks.  ItsDeductible is a free program from Intuit and imports into TurboTax seamlessly.  I've used it for years.

Level 2
May 31, 2019 5:03:50 PM

I did have similar situation several years ago and my textbooks/professional books donated were scientific at graduate level or above, meaning not depreciate that quickly. I used amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com websites for evaluation because ItsDeductible doesn't have value for professional books. Only textbooks for elementary school thru high school or lower level college would sell $1 each. Advanced textbooks typically not available at such a discount.

But IRS auditor took a significant deduction without any explanation on the source of evaluation, which certainly resulted in an appeal.