Donating a Car

Donating Advantages

• Donating your vehicle emancipates you from the hassle of selling, freeing you from advertising and getting badgered with phone calls at all times of the day and night.

• No need to spend your time showing strangers the car and accompanying them for test drives.

• Most donations are tax deductible.

• Most charities provide either free pick-up service or convenient pick-up locations.

• You don't need to replace your vehicle's pocked windshield or cracked timing belt. Most charities will accept your vehicle, regardless of condition.

Donating Disadvantages

One word: fraud. Due to limited state and federal oversight, con artists have stained the integrity of the car donation program under the camouflage of false charities. The repercussions don't reach you until tax time, when you coldly discover your expected tax deduction has been rejected.

How to Protect Yourself Against Fraud

• Do some research to protect yourself. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Publication 78 serves as a superb source for determining a charity's legitimacy and tax exemption status.

• Check with either Louisiana's Attorney General's Office or Secretary of State's Office for access to a specific charity's financial filings.

Taking the Write-Off

Remember to read the IRS's A Donor's Guide to Car Donation to find out more information about taking the tax break.

A Few Car Donation Charities

• Habitat for Humanity

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

• Kars 4 Kids

• Outreach Center

• Teddy Bear Cops