Car Donation Value - Determine the value of your car donation

Step 3 - Determining the fair market value of your vehicle donation

To start, the car or other vehicle that you are donating must qualify for a tax deduction, at least if you want the deduction. Most and vehicle that is legal for public road use can qualify for tax deductible vehicle donations. Although boats and airplanes are generally also included.

It is up to you, the donor, to determine the fair market value of your donation. Up until 2005 the charity would value the donation but recently this is now the vehicle owners responsibility. When you are donating your car or truck you will have to justify the value that you wish the tax receipt to have on it.

There are several resources available online that can assist a vehicle owner in determining just what fair market value is.

One noteworthy site is Kelleys Blue Book. Here you can determine the new or used value of you car donations. It is a simple to use interface where you simply select the options that your vehicle has, where you live and type of evaluation you want. You can choose to receive the trade in value, private sale value and retail value.

This is a very handy tool.

So once you establish the fair market value for your donation and have documents to support you value you can start the vehicle donation process. Since each car donation organization has different donation procedures you must work with that particular charity and follow the steps they have for completing your contribution.