A Car For Donation

Charity organizations say that the donations they're receiving are in decline just as the need for their services are on the rise to what may be the greatest level of our lifetimes.In this economy, many of us are in little position to help. But there is at least one thing that many of us can do. Most of us will eventually need to replace our cars, and when that time comes, we can offer our old car as a donation to charity

 Offering a car for donation is usually a pretty easy thing to do. Most of the programs that handle car donations will tow your car away for free.There is a tax deduction available for offering your car for donation. If you've done this before, though, you should be aware that the tax rules now aren't as generous as they have been in the past.

  A charity or the company that runs its car donation program will often resell the cars they receive. Under current tax law, you can only deduct an amount equal to the resale price, unless the car is worth less than $500.

A couple of other things to be aware of if you offer your car for donation:In most states, it's the donor's responsibility to notify their state's department of motor vehicles of the change in registration after donating their car. Don't forget to do this. If you fail to notify the DMV of the change in ownership, you could be charged for parking tickets and other penalties for violations committed by your car's next owner.

Also, in deciding what charity to donate to, you may want to ask some questions about their vehicle-donation programs. The California Attorney General's Office found in a 2005 that in 2004, less than half of the proceeds raised through charitable donations of vehicles in California ended up going to charities.