Determine the Value of Goodwill Donations
Goodwill donations help to support job training and employment placement services for those in need. While you can't place a dollar value on the help that these programs provide, you can place a value on the items that were donated. Determining the value of your charitable donations to Goodwill can help you to calculate your available tax deduction. Setting a price for the items that you gave can be tricky, but there are some helpful steps that can get you pointed in the right direction.
Instructions
1. Obtain a receipt for each donation. Compile your annual donations into one itemized list.
2. Find the fair market value for each item that you donated. For items such as clothing, shoes and accessories, the fair market value is usually less than $5 per item, and sometimes as low as a dollar or two. You can get an estimate of the value of your items by looking to see what similar items sell for at the Goodwill store. You can also obtain a list of estimated fair market value prices from some Goodwill Web sites. Visit Goodwill.org and locate your Goodwill location. Click on the "donations" link on their site to see if they have a fair market value guide.
3. Assign a fair market value to each item on your list. Take the quality and condition of your donations into account. Items that are damaged or out of date are worth less than new pieces that are still in style.
4. Add up the values for your donated items to determine the total value of your Goodwill donations for the year. These donations are tax deductible.
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