Donate for a cause

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Original Message:

Re: Donate for a cause (by R P.):

virginiab134 wrote:
Please review Publication 526 with the IRS regarding donations over $500 but below $5,000. For information regarding any deductions claimed over $5,000 you can reference Publication 561. It states "Generally, you must obtain a qualified written appraisal of the donated property from a qualified appraiser. "

It is optional to the donor to have an appraisal completed during the process and it is also up to the donor and their tax adviser to determine what they claim on their taxes. If they choose to have an appraisal done as part of the process a copy of the appraisal is sent to the donor with the tax documents to provide to their accountant. Donors can use their own independent appraiser or pay $150 to have one completed by a certified appraiser we work with. The $150 paid for the appraisal is tax deductible on a case by case basis depending on the donor's individual situation.

We are not tax professionals and do not give out tax advice. We encourage our donors to contact their accountant or tax preparer before donating to see if it is something that will be beneficial to them.

This is old IRS rules before the 2007 recession hit when timeshares did have value .... currently few have much value, especially $5000 value (with the exception of those few listed below) .... the IRS states that the it's the FAIR MARKET VALUE of a timeshare that can written off .... if you donate a worthless timeshare to a charity then the fair market value would be zero.

There have been other questionable charities that have come here trying to state 'the IRS charity tax code', but if you are telling clients they can write off $5000 without an appraisal then the IRS will come after them along with penalties and interest several years later, because they realize that very few timeshares are worth $5000 at present (exceptions may be Disney, Hilton, some Marriotts, 4 Seasons, Hyatt etc).

Read below for more info on timeshare deductions and the IRS:

http://redemptionandrelease.com/timeshare-donation-reviews/