Original Message:
Re: Has anyone ever donated a timeshare for a tax write-off? (by KC):
mariam201 wrote:Has anyone ever donated a timeshare for a tax write-off? I would be curious to hear how easy / expensive it was to do.
Having tried once (unsuccessfully), I'll make several observations / recommendations from my experience:
1. Do NOT assume that ANY entity is even going to ACCEPT your intended "donation". You might be very surprised to discover just how selective the charitable entities are about timeshare donations. Remember, if they can't promptly turn it into cash (just as maybe you can't, if you're now considering donation), then it's just absolutely worthless to them. If they can't sell it, it's a burden, not a blessing. They (understandably) have no interest in inheriting maintenance fee responsibilities.
2. Do some homework on the "write off" aspect of your intentions. You may be surprised about the applicable IRS laws / rules on the matter. Frankly, the likelihood of your actually deriving any tax benefit whatsoever are actually pretty slim. If you happen to belong to TUG, there are some very knowledgeable folks there familiar with every last detail of the "donation" issue --- all of their advice is posted and readily available there. I'm NOT steering you off RedWeek, but on this particular topic there is a lot of legal and tax expertise in evidence "over there", whereas I've not (at least personally) ever seen that same level of tax expertise / detail expressed here in RedWeek forums. They are not "better", just much "older" (longer established).
Good luck, but do your homework. It's not as easy (or as beneficial tax wise) as you might want to believe.