You have decided on a charity and are quite clear on most of the procedures involved in your vehicle donation. The charity is a qualified one and even your vehicle is qualified for tax deductions. If the tax deduction you are claiming for your vehicle is more than $500 and hence you require a written acknowledgement from the charity. You must be rest assured that it contains all the relevant information required or you may find it difficult later. The acknowledgement must contain your name and taxpayer identification number, your vehicle identification number and the date when you made the contribution. The Charity would also need to mention either that no goods or services were provided by the charity in return for the donation or the value of goods and services provided or that the services provided are intangible like religious benefits. If all these are not included in the acknowledgement in that case you will not be able to claim more than $500.

In case the charity sells the vehicle the written acknowledgement must also contain a statement that certifies the car was sold to an unrelated party, the date the vehicle was sold, the amount received form the sale and that your deductions may not exceed the gross proceeds of the sale. If the charity does not sell the vehicle then the written acknowledgement would need to contain the intended use of the vehicle, any repairs done to the vehicle or if sold to a needy individual at a less price then that would need to be stated. In all these cases the donor will have the benefit of deducting the fair market value of the vehicle as tax.

To value your car, contact either a specialized dealer or a car insurance company!