Many of us donate food to charity, as well as used clothing and household goods. The IRS has recently changed the rules regarding tax-deductibility of used items. For any items donated after August 17, 2006, they must be in good or very good condition to take any deduction at all.
I recently saw a promotion to buy a $25 book that would tell me the value of used clothing and merchandise by item to use in my tax return. However, when I read the IRS publication on this topic, even the IRS said that it is very difficult to determine values of used items. You need to base the valuation on what the items would sell for in a thrift store.
Good news! You can save your money on the $25 book and go to the websites of thrift stores to find reasonable estimates of what items sell for in their stores. Goodwill stores have online sites at www.shopgoodwill.com , and I did a quick Google search ("valuation of used clothing" was my search term) that surfaced many links. For example, this link goes to the Salvation Army’s website and it provides a simple chart with price ranges for many common items. Be sure to print any resource that you use to keep in your files should your deduction amounts be questioned in the future.
If you already have Turbo Tax, you can take advantage of their free service, "It’s Deductible" at their website with updated values of donated items based on surveys of resale stores across the country.
For more details, you can review online the IRS publication, "Determining the Value of Donated Property" and search your individual topic quickly.
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