How much can you write off from donating clothes to Goodwill?

Dec 16th, 2009

Erin N asked:


I donated about 8 boxes of clothes to Goodwill in 2006 (which is also the line item on the reciept, btw- it doesn’t say the size of the box, etc.) I believe I can take a tax write-off for this, but I’m not sure how much of one I can take. Is it my job to estimate how much the clothes were worth that I donated? Is that the amount of the write-off I can take?

Ryan

Tags: Boxes, Donating Clothes, Job

3 Responses to “How much can you write off from donating clothes to Goodwill?”

1. mrs. a says:

   December 18, 2009 at 2:47 am

   you have to estimate the value of your donation. you can claim up to $500 and anything over that you have to itemize. by that i mean that if it is over $500 worth of donations than you have to list each item separately and the value of each. if it is under $500 than all you have to do is tell them the dollar amount.
   it is also smart to ask goodwill for a receipt any time you donate. on the receipt you write what you gave and the value. i always hold on to this for a couple of years.
2. greg says:

   December 21, 2009 at 1:18 am

   I think the pub says that you should claim yard sale value for clothes and donated items. That’s what I do. My experience as has been that volunteers at Goodwill receive your items and then hand over an initialed and dated blank card. I use to only list a dollar amount with a general descr. Now, i itemize my items either on the card or on an attachment and report the sum.
3. nancina says:

   December 24, 2009 at 4:18 am

   If the Goodwill didn’t give you a value, then you can estimate the amount. A general rule of thumb is that the clothes are worth 1/3 of the value you paid for them.

   You can count this as a charitable deduction on Schedule A if you itemize. Also, if you have more than $500 of non-cash donations, you may need to file an additional form where you list out the information (what you donated, date of purchase, date of donation, etc).