Gifts to charity values

Jan 26, 2008 1 Replies

I recently saw an ad on TV for some tax software package which includes a checklist which is supposed to help determine the value of your gifts to charity for deduction on Schedule A. I seem to remember $14 for a pair of pants! This seems way too high to me, as I believe one can purchase a used pair of pants in reasonable shape at, say, Goodwill, for considerably less than that. If that pants value of $14 were acceptable to the IRS, my charitable deductions dollar amount might increase fivefold or more!



Is there any list of 'standard' values one can refer to and use for gifts to charities of clothes and other common household items?


There are lots of lists and I believe that TurboTax is using the one sourced from the Salvation Army.

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If you check both sites, you will find different values for the same item. There's the rub. How many different men's jackets do you think there are?

The best way to value what you gift to a thrift shop is to just pay a visit to the thrift shop(s) in your area with pencil and paper and make a note of the selling prices for the type of goods and quality of goods you donated.

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