I donated a lot of cameras, lenses, and other camera equipment. What category would they be in?

[mesquitebean]

Category for what purpose?  What are you doing?   Entering items into your TurboTax return, entering into ItsDeductible website, etc.?    What year was the donation made?

[mesquitebean]

If you are valuing your items using the ItsDeductible website or the built-in ItsDeductible applet in the TurboTax program, those are in the category labeled "Cameras & Equipment."   Then there are several subcategories of camera equipment.   If your item is not listed, you can create a "custom item" in the ItsDeductible applet/website and value it yourself.

[dedeww]

I'm at the beginning of the Contributions section in Turbo Tax.  I've entered who I donated to and the date.  I am choosing to value the donation myself.  The next page is the date I donated them, and then the next page say "Choose a category for this donation"  I have to choose from the following:

Household items
Car, boat or airplane (may be reported on Form 1098-C)
Collectibles
Business equipment
Business inventory
Art - not self-created
Art - self-created
Publicly traded stock
Non-Publicly traded stock
Securities (not stock)
Intellectual property
Real property - not conservation property
Other personal property
Other intangible property

[Carl]

Also note that donations are only deductible if given to a registered charity or other qualified NPO. For your category, I would call it "Other Personal Property", assuming what you donated was in fact, your personal property.

[mesquitebean]

Or was it business property?  Are you a professional photographer and these were items (assets) from your business?  If so, there could be other ramifications to consider (purchase date/price, prior depreciation, etc.) that the donations interview will ask you about.

[bwa · Accepted solution]

Dedeww, use any category you want.  The categories are only for your assistance in locating items in ItsDeductible, not for sending data to the IRS.  Only the totals are sent to the IRS.

[mesquitebean]

He's not asking about ItsDeductible categories.  He's asking about the "type" of donated property.  See the list he provided which is from the TurboTax program interview, not from ItsDeductible or the built-in applet.  When one chooses to value their own donation, it makes you choose what "type" of property the donation is.

  I don't know if he is a professional photographer or not, but if he chooses "Business equipment" for example, it will ask him several questions about how acquired, purchase cost, acquisition date, prior depreciation, etc. before determining how much is allowed, and a special form will be attached to the Charitable Contributions worksheet.