Timeline for How should I value personal use television for donation?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
23 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 5, 2016 at 18:42 | comment | added | Daniel Anderson | Wow...You give the IRS much more credit than I ever would! (grin) Keep in mind that there's a HUGE difference between what people are trying to sell things for and what anyone is actually willing to pay. Maybe there are sellers with listings offering it that for your stated amount, or better yet, they're using an inflated MSRP to make their "sale" price look better. Either way, a price tag is different from a completed sale at the price you're stating. Looking at eBay, I see quite a few where the price is "$2,500 or best offer", with no takers. Caution if you use those prices! | |
| Oct 5, 2016 at 18:33 | comment | added | Matthew | @DanielAnderson Maybe, but that doesn't make the valuation inaccurate. The risk of any valuation is whether the audit risk is worth it I think.... If the IRS were to look up the value of the item they'd come to the same conclusion.... which is why I want to make sure I'm using the method they suggest. | |
| Oct 4, 2016 at 23:09 | comment | added | Daniel Anderson | I smell an audit coming if you stick with that valuation for a television... | |
| Sep 29, 2016 at 23:15 | comment | added | Matthew | @R.. They can call it dubious if they like. It is worth that much according to Amazon/EBay and worth more in a straight-line depreciate method (which is why I'm asking... the value is not immaterial) | |
| Sep 29, 2016 at 21:59 | comment | added | R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE | I would think the IRS would find it dubious to claim a used TV is worth $2000 even if you paid several thousand for it new. Anyway see the good existing answers on documenting fair market value. | |
| Sep 29, 2016 at 21:21 | comment | added | Matthew | @R.. right so that's perhaps why you didn't understand my question. This particular used TV is worth about $2000 | |
| Sep 29, 2016 at 20:16 | comment | added | R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE | How is a used TV worth $2000? More like $200. | |
| Sep 29, 2016 at 19:13 | comment | added | Matthew | @R.. A deduction with a fair market value of $2000 on my schedule A will save me ~$600 at my effective tax rate of 30% | |
| Sep 29, 2016 at 6:43 | comment | added | Jon | Comments don't earn you any Magic Internet Points @R.. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 20:49 | answer | added | Hannover Fist | timeline score: 1 | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 19:20 | comment | added | R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE | It earned me Internet Points (tm) though! ;-) Anyway the point was that while it makes sense to deduct actual significant cash (or major property like vehicles, boats, land, buildings, etc.) donations, it seems pretty silly to try to deduct a used TV. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 18:20 | comment | added | user12515 | @GalacticCowboy Second this... Goodwill always asks if I want a receipt and I usually say no, but the one time I had a lot of stuff and said yes they just gave me a blank one with "guidelines" on how to value stuff. I thought the whole purpose of the receipt is that I don't have to just make stuff up about what I think I donated is worth and have actual proof of what I donated! | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 17:38 | comment | added | stannius | @R.. how much is your time worth that you spent it writing that comment, which earned you not even a few bucks? | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 17:21 | comment | added | R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE | How someone who makes enough money for itemized deductions to be worthwhile (vs the standard deduction) thinks it makes sense to spend their time trying to save a few bucks on taxes is beyond me... | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 14:56 | comment | added | GalacticCowboy | @DJClayworth Depends how interested the organization is in basic courtesy. In my experience (places like Goodwill), they only give you a detailed receipt about 10% of the time. Usually, they will either not offer anything at all (you have to ask) or they give you blank one and you have to fill it out on your own. Which is probably illegal on their part, but nobody seems to care. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 14:52 | comment | added | DJClayworth | My understanding is that you have to get a receipt stating the value from the organization you donate it to. You can't just donate stuff and decide the value. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 7:22 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackFinance/status/781031267051659264 | ||
| Sep 27, 2016 at 22:52 | history | edited | Matthew | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 1 character in body
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| Sep 27, 2016 at 22:19 | vote | accept | Matthew | ||
| Sep 27, 2016 at 21:47 | answer | added | keshlam | timeline score: 16 | |
| Sep 27, 2016 at 21:43 | answer | added | Daniel Anderson | timeline score: 6 | |
| Sep 27, 2016 at 21:39 | answer | added | Nate Eldredge | timeline score: 28 | |
| Sep 27, 2016 at 21:08 | history | asked | Matthew | CC BY-SA 3.0 |