What to do about clothing donations over $500 without reciept?

[josh10]

Made one large donation of clothes (11 boxes containing 387 pieces) to Goodwill with a donation value of $881.  The goodwill driver left a receipt of pickup, but not anything listing inventory or value. 

I have kept a spreadsheet of all items and value based on IRS tables.

Should I go ahead and deduct the full amount or only $500?

[Iris1 · Accepted solution]

If you enter non cash contributions that are more than $500.00; the TurboxTax software you are using will complete the Form 8283 automatically and it will be included in your tax return.

It seems that you have been very resourceful by keeping record of the value of your donated items.
Remember, you must fill out Form 8283 (PDF),Noncash Charitable Contributions, and attach it to your return, if your deduction for a noncash contribution is more than $500. If you enter non cash contributions that are more than $500.00; the TurboxTax software you are using will complete the Form 8283 automatically and it will be included in your tax return.

Donations valued between $1-250 require a receipt from the charity unless it is impractical to get one - like if you dropped clothing off in a bin or unmanned drop-off location. Donations between $251-500 require a receipt from the charity with the name, address, date, location and items. Donations between $501-5,000 also require a record of how and when the items were acquired and their adjusted basis. Donations valued over $5,000 may also require a written appraisal.

For any contribution of $250 or more (including contributions of cash or property), you must obtain and keep in your records a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the qualified organization indicating the amount of the cash and a description of any property contributed.

The acknowledgment must say whether the organization provided any goods or services in exchange for the gift and, if so, must provide a description and a good faith estimate of the value of those goods or services. One document from the qualified organization may satisfy both the written communication requirement for monetary gifts and the contemporaneous written acknowledgment requirement for all contributions of $250 or more.

[alisakoken]

I donated $800 worth of kids clothes. I do not have receipts for when I purchased them but I used the salvation army guidelines to make a spreadsheet with the items and their suspected value. I averaged in between the high and low options. I also took pictures of the items donated. The donation receipt has the address and contact information for the establishment. I am wondering if they are going to require more than I have since I don't remember when I acquired every piece of clothing I donated or how much I originally paid for it. Are they going to need this much information? I am planning on using TurboTax this year and would like to claim the full $800.

[jamesluntz]

I just found this in trying to get my same questions answered. if you read i8283 it indicates that for Donations between 501 and 5000 on subsections (e) and (f) for record of when acquired and adjusted basis, for date acquired if you've owned them for more than 12 months simply input "Various" and for how acquired, you can simply state whether by "purchase, gift, inheritance, or exchange"

[rseppala007]

I understand the answer but I still cannot enter the deduction in "It's Deductible". I get an error message that says the amount must be less than $500. How do I enter my deduction?

[Salocin411]

RE ---  I understand the answer but I still cannot enter the deduction in "It's Deductible". I get an error message that says the amount must be less than $500. How do I enter my deduction?

I too would like assistance as I cannot enter more than $500 is there a workaround?  Also is the 500-5000 a cumulative number? For example I have donated several times during the year, each time getting a receipt from GOODWILL with items ranging from just $60.00 but all may include items like an old laptop and a robot vacuum.  Would entering several receipts from different dates .... say $290,$111,$550,$680,$28,$444  that would total $2103 all all donations periods, each with their own receipts from goodwill. Would that be accepted by the IRS?

[Opus 17]

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@Salocin411 wrote:

RE ---  I understand the answer but I still cannot enter the deduction in "It's Deductible". I get an error message that says the amount must be less than $500. How do I enter my deduction?

I too would like assistance as I cannot enter more than $500 is there a workaround?  Also is the 500-5000 a cumulative number? For example I have donated several times during the year, each time getting a receipt from GOODWILL with items ranging from just $60.00 but all may include items like an old laptop and a robot vacuum.  Would entering several receipts from different dates .... say $290,$111,$550,$680,$28,$444  that would total $2103 all all donations periods, each with their own receipts from goodwill. Would that be accepted by the IRS?

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For a donation with a value over $500 you won't use ItsDeductible, enter it manually instead.  Enter the information requested (date, original cost, when acquired, condition, market value, etc.). For description, enter "used clothes" or something similar.  You don't need to itemize the clothing items on your tax return (but you do need an itemized list as part of your tax records in case of audit).

When your total deduction for non-cash items is over $500, you must include form 8283 with your tax return.  Turbotax will do this for you automatically.  It should be no problem to list donations on various days that are different amounts that total more than $500.  It's just that the ItsDeductible module has a $500 per donation limit for other reasons.

Where you will have a problem is if your total non-cash donations are more than $5000.  The can trigger a requirement for an appraisal and signatures. 

[Critter-3]

Be smarter then the program/tool ... just split the donation into 2 pieces each less then $500.