Donating your car or vehicle to charity can be a great way to get a tax deduction, and Wheels For Wishes makes it easy. If you would like to help your local Make-A-Wish® and get the maximum tax deduction, then you’re already almost done. It’s as simple as filling out the little form to the right or calling 1-877-431-9474. We make the process easy, and you get the most good (and highest tax deduction) for your car. Not only that, but you are also helping a local child’s wish come true.

How Car Donation Tax Deduction Works

 

Prior to January 2005, the IRS was allowing people who donated to a qualified car donationprogram to take a tax deduction based on their vehicle’s market value no matter how much or how little the vehicle sold for. Determining the market value of a donated vehicle is often quite difficult and time-consuming, which made determination of the amount of the tax deduction confusing. Fortunately, as a result of the new tax law that went into effect in January 2005, the IRS has taken the guesswork out of determining the value of your donated car, truck, RV, boat or other vehicle.

The IRS Allows The Taxpayer To Claim A Charitable Tax Deduction As Follows:

• We make it easy to get the maximum tax deduction for your vehicle donation! Simply filling out the quick form to the right (or call 1-877-431-9474) and we take care of the rest. Your vehicle is picked up, sold, and proceeds benefit your local Make-A-Wish®, but you also get a 100% deductible receipt.
• If the donated vehicle is sold for less than $500, you can claim the fair market value of your vehicle up to $500 or the amount it is sold for if less than fair market value.
• If the donated vehicle sells for more than $500, you can claim the exact amount for which the vehicle is sold.

For any vehicle sold for more than $500, the exact amount it is sold for will be stated on your notification mailed to you, which in turn will be your charitable tax deduction. For additional information, the IRS provides A Donor’s Guide to Car Donations (Publication 4303 linked below), which details the determination of the value of your donated vehicle. As always, we help people donate their cars every day, and we would be happy to help you do the same. Feel free to call us at 1-877-431-9474 with any questions you might have and one of our representatives will help you.

Frequently Asked Car Donation Tax Questions

Latest IRS Publications Concerning Vehicle Donations And Deductions

• IRS Pub. 526 – Charitable Contributions – An excerpt regarding non-cash charitable contributions
• IRS Pub. 561 – Determining the Value of Donated Property – An excerpt regarding fair market value
• IRS Pub. 4303 – A Donor’s Guide to Car Donation – An excerpt regarding new tax law information

We’re Ready To Help, And It Couldn’t Be Easier

We work hard to get you the maximum tax return for your vehicle donation. Feel free to call us at 1-877-431-9474 with any questions you might have and one of our representatives will help you.

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It’s easy to donate a car to charity if all you want to do is get rid of it. Simply call a charity that accepts old vehicles, and it will tow your heap away.

If you want to maximize the benefits for both the charity and yourself, however, it’s more complicated. Until 2005, it was easy for taxpayers to deduct the entire “fair market value” of a donated vehicle from their taxable income, reducing the taxes they’d have to pay to the Internal Revenue Service. (The IRS defines fair market value as “the price a willing buyer would pay and a willing seller would accept for the vehicle, when neither party is compelled to buy or sell and both parties have reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts.”)

Allowing taxpayers to deduct the full fair market value for all those donated vehicles cost the IRS a lot of dollars, however, so the agency tightened the rules. Today, you can only deduct a vehicle’s fair market value under very specific conditions. We’re going to walk you through those conditions, with the usual proviso that you should discuss these issues with your tax preparer before you act. Also note that if your state or locality also levies income taxes, other rules may also apply.

You Must Itemize Your Return
If you want to claim fair market value for your car donation to reduce your federal income taxes, you must itemize deductions, says Twila D. Midwood, an enrolled agent based in Rockledge, Florida. An enrolled agent is a tax expert who can represent clients before the IRS.

If you’ve always filed 1040EZ tax returns and you plan to keep filing them, you won’t be able to deduct any amount for the car donation. You can file a regular 1040 tax form and itemize, even if the donated auto is your only deduction. That’s usually not the best choice, however, unless you like paying a lot more taxes to the IRS than you must.

“For tax purposes, because a donation is a deduction from your income, the tax benefit relates to your tax bracket,” Midwood says. “It’s not a dollar-for-dollar item.”

Here’s the math: Suppose you are in the 28 percent tax bracket. Your donated car’s value, and thus the deduction, is $1,000. “The $1,000 deduction will save you $280,” Midwood says. If you’re in the 15 percent tax bracket and you donate a car worth $1,000, it will only reduce your taxes by $150.

If instead you take the standard deduction, which in 2012 was $5,950 for a single individual or $11,900 for a married couple filing together, you save thousands of dollars over filing an itemized return only for the purposes of detailing your car donation.

The only way that donating a car nets you any tax benefit is if you have many deductions, and if their total sum, including the car, exceeds your standard deduction.

The Charity Must Qualify
Your city councilman’s campaign organization and your hobby club may be nonprofit organizations, but donating a car to them won’t give you any tax benefits. Only “qualified” charities can provide those for you. A qualified charity is one that has been approved by the IRS as an “exempt-status” or 501(c)(3) organization, Midwood says. Most organizations will state in their advertising or receipts that they’re a 501(c)(3) if indeed they are one, she says. “If you’re not sure, ask.”

Religious organizations are a special case. They do count as qualified organizations, but they aren’t required to file for 501(c)(3) status.

To help you determine whether a charity is qualified, the easiest thing to do is visit the IRS’s exempt organizations site.

You also can call an IRS toll-free number: (877) 829-5500. If you do this, you’ll have to listen to some recorded information about tax forms that probably don’t apply to you. You’ll then be given the option to “Press 2” to talk to a customer service rep about exempt organizations. Note that the waits can be quite long: up to 30 minutes.

You can always donate as much as you want to charities, but the IRS limits how much you can claim on your tax return. “Charitable donations can’t exceed 50 percent of your gross income,” Midwood says.

How To Deduct Fair Market Value
These are the four IRS rules under which you can get the maximum deduction (the fair market value) of a donated car:

1. When a charity auctions your car for $500 or less, you can claim either the fair market value or $500, whichever is less.
2. When the charity intends to make a “significant intervening use of the vehicle.” This means the charity will use the car in its work, such as delivering meals to needy people.
3. When the charity intends to make a “material improvement” to the vehicle, which is “anything that increases the car’s value and prolongs its life,” Midwood says. “It can’t be a minor repair or maintenance; it must be something like fixing the engine or systems that run the car,” she says.
4. When the charity gives or sells the vehicle to a needy individual at a price significantly below fair market value, and the gift or sale is part of the charity’s mission of helping the needy who need transportation.

How To Determine Fair Market Value
To recap, the IRS defines fair market value as the price a willing buyer would pay and a willing seller would accept for the vehicle, when neither party is compelled to buy or sell and both parties have reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts. Neither the buyer nor the seller can be an auto dealer. Both must be private parties.

Edmunds.com makes it easy to determine your vehicle’s fair market value. And, as Midwood says, your assessment has to be “an apples-to-apples comparison.”

IRS Publication 4303 explains this in more detail: “If you use a vehicle pricing guide to determine fair market value, be sure that the sales price listed is for a vehicle that is the same make, model and year, sold in the same condition, and with the same or substantially similar options or accessories as your vehicle.”

Here’s an example: Let’s say your car is a 2003 Honda Accord DX sedan (the lowest trim level). It has 200,000 miles and it’s in “average” condition. Edmunds estimates it would be worth $1,862 in a private-party sale in Southern California. You can’t instead claim the $5,318 private-party value of a Honda Accord EX sedan (a much higher trim level) with 100,000 miles in “clean condition” (a condition grade that’s one step up from “average”).

Getting Fair Market Value Is Rare
It’s not realistic to expect that your car will meet one of the most stringent fair market value requirements. Take it from 1-800-Charity Cars, which says it is the largest car donation charity in the United States. It picks up donated vehicles from across the country and gives as many of the cars as possible to people who need transportation. According to the charity, few donated cars are suitable to give to the people it serves.

“If 5 percent go to our clients, I’m thrilled,” says CEO Brian Menzies. “Although we take any car, about one-third go straight to salvage, i.e., junk.” The rest are auctioned and the proceeds go to the charity of the donor’s choice, he says.

The point that Menzies is making is this: Unless your car is in good or excellent condition, it will most likely be sold at auction or to an auto salvage yard. In that case, your deduction is based on the car’s selling price, not your fair market value estimate.

Note that this price is not something you’ll know when you donate the vehicle. “An organization has up to three years to sell the vehicle,” Midwood says. “If they sell the vehicle within three years, they must notify the IRS and the donor.”

If the April tax deadline is approaching and the charity still hasn’t sent you a notification of your vehicle’s sale, such as an acknowledgement, receipt or form 1098-C, you have two options.

Paperwork Is Important
According to IRS Publication 526, the first option is to file Form 4868 to request an automatic six-month extension of time to submit your return. Your second option is to file the return on time without claiming the deduction for the qualified vehicle. When the charity finally sends your notification, you can file an amended return using form 1040X to claim the deduction. You’ll have to attach a copy of the notification to your 1040X.

Getting tax benefits for a donated car requires a lot of documentation, whether the car is junked, sold at auction or given to a charity’s client. IRS Publication 4303 has all the details. One tip: Keep all the papers or electronic files. You’ll need them at tax time.

Another Approach to Car “Donation”
Besides giving your car directly to a charity, there is another way your vehicle can help a charity and also maximize your tax benefits: You can sell the vehicle yourself and donate the proceeds.

“If the qualified organization is going to sell the vehicle in order to receive cash, then it would make sense for an individual to sell the vehicle to a private party to maximize the amount of cash proceeds,” Midwood says.

“Privately selling the vehicle might generate larger cash proceeds than if the organization were to sell the vehicle, she says. “The donor would then make a cash contribution to the organization.”

Selling any car can be a hassle and selling one that’s on its last legs poses challenges of its own. How you proceed depends on your goal. Are you focused on getting rid of a junker with minimum effort and you’d look at the tax deduction as a nice bonus? Then donating your car makes good sense.

If your goal is to maximize your tax deduction, carefully review the steps here and then make your decision. Whatever you decide to do, parting with your old car could help a nonprofit carry out its mission. And it also might make room in your garage for a new car.

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Computers break and accidents happen. Although data can be backed up to the cloud and secondary devices, hard drive-related issues can result in data loss beyond what protection regular backups can offer. From computer crashes to human errors, hard drive recovery services can restore data from damaged drives, unbootable drives, reformatted drives, malware infections, user deletion and more.

Once a hard drive is damaged, recovering data is best left to experienced professionals who can extract information without incurring additional data loss or causing further damage. For businesses in critical situations, hard drive recovery services can recover data from desktops and laptops, as well as mobile devices, removable media, digital cameras and other types of media.

For a side-by-side comparison of the best hard drive recovery services, including those mentioned here, visit our sister site Top Ten Reviews. Below is a summary of their top three rated providers.

SEE THE TOP 10 LIST HERE – SOURCE

See what today’s VoIP and unified communications solutions have to offer and get an overview of the top five current SMB and enterprise VoIP/UC solutions.

Business phone services are no longer just telephone services. They have evolved and are now often VoIP based and paired with unified communications (UCaaS) as services such as conferencing, instant messaging, email, voicemail and business SMS. This potentially saves businesses money by providing integrated features rather than disjointed business applications. In addition, many business VoIP services offer unlimited calling plans and low-priced international plans. A choice of hosting is often available, including on-site, cloud-based PBX and hybrid. Many also work with a mixture of IP and traditional phone lines.

Advantages of Managed VoIP Business Phone Services

Cloud-based services, which are soon to completely replace traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) phone lines, are affordable and easily managed. Managed services require few internal resources, since the service manages the servers, service and backup. That just leaves configuration, monitoring and service adjustments to the business owner or IT staff.

Pricing

VoIP businesses services often charge by the phone line or extension. But you also may have hardware costs to consider if you plan to host on-site and phone costs if you need to purchase new phones or headsets. Some services may also charge additional fees for things such as voice-to-email services, conferencing or international calling. Nowadays, many services do not require a long-term contract but may offer lower pricing if you pay a year or more in advance.

Is It Time to Upgrade?

For most, the answer is yes. VoIP business phone services are more affordable in the long run and offer many features beyond just telephone services. If you are not quite ready to make the leap and have a lot of fully functional analog phones you want to keep using, you can upgrade to VoIP and use an adapter to continue using your older phones, or you can add low-priced softphones (headsets) to your PCs to use VoIP services. Eventually, you’ll likely make the full conversion, so you might give some thought to what’s currently holding you back. Plan for adequate internet bandwidth to support your new phone system. Generally, you need to allocate for up to 100 Kbps per phone line.

What Services Do VoIP and UCaaS Provide?

These phone services provide all advanced phone features such as virtual call receptionists, call forwarding and recording, voicemail, inbound and outbound calls, hold music, forward to mobile, call holding, and multiple-party calls.

Most services also offer unified communications. This means that additional collaboration tools such as video and audio conferencing, business SMS, instant messaging, presence indicators, and screen sharing are included with the phone services. These features usually integrate with CRM-type services and/or Outlook so users can easily connect with contacts or customers in a variety of ways. All features are integrated and low-priced.

Choosing a VoIP Service

Your first consideration is your ROI. Some services, such as 8X8, have ROI calculators on their websites to help you figure out what your breaking point might be. Another consideration is your hardware investment – telephones, switches, headsets, adapters, routers and more depending on the setup you desire. A critical consideration is your internet bandwidth. You may need to consult with your provider to arrange for enough bandwidth to support your new phones, alongside other internet needs.

Specifically, we selected 8X8, Avaya Aura, ShoreTel, Vonage and Skype for Business. Find out which one might be best for your needs.

How to Obtain a Quote From VoIP Vendors

You can fill out the form provided on this website to obtain quotes through our sister site BuyerZone, or you can contact the providers you are interested in. You’ll want to know how many lines you require, how you want to host the services, and what additional services you may require. Some contracts may be negotiable, and you may receive discounts for paying in advance or with a term contract. Hardware leasing or financing options, including for phones, may also be available. If you need it, you may also want to ask about free or paid training or implementation support.

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Mortgage insurance loan allow some people to buy loans or refinance a home with less than 20% down payment or equity. While it offers a service and more homeowners help with housing, insurance Mortgage is an additional cost that should be canceled as soon as possible. , I will first discuss the two main categories of mortgage insurance and then how to cancel them.

Structured settlement payments result from actions in which the applicant receives regular payments and current income or a different annuity. However, many people do not find a long-term payment stream as advantageous as a flat rate.

A secondary market has evolved around structured settlements that allow consumers to sell their payments in whole or in part to a structured payer. These buyers or factoring companies then pay the consumer a lump sum in return

What features matter most?

Purchase price

When considering quotes for structured settlement purchase from factoring companies, the purchase price or lump sum received can vary considerably due to the time-value of money. Companies will consider these factors when determining the purchase price of your settlement.

• Duration of the settlement: A dollar now is worth more than a dollar in the future. When obtaining quotes for selling a structured settlement, how soon the total settlement will be paid out to the consumer makes a difference in the purchase price. Buyers mostly prefer payments that will be made sooner to lessen their risk.
• Timing of the payments: The sooner the payments being sold will be received, the higher the purchase price will be. This can play a role in determining whether to sell all or some of the structured payment.
• Total amount of the settlement: Obviously, the total value of the settlement affects the purchase price today. However, structured settlements of lower value may not be as easy to sell for a lump sum.

Surrender charges & fees

Depending on the initial plan setup, surrender charges and fees must sometimes be paid when selling a structured settlement. Surrender charges are imposed by the company that owns the structured payments and is a way to recoup the money spent in creating the plan in the first place.

• Legal fees: Some companies charge a legal fee for surrendering your scheduled payments.
• Broker fee: If the factoring company is, or makes use of, a broker to secure the funds for the lump sum payment, there may be an associated fee. Often, this fee is worked into the final payment amount.
• Other fees: There can be other fees associated with the sale of a structured settlement including recording, filing, administrative and miscellaneous fees. These fees are usually deducted from the payment amount and do not have to be paid upfront by the consumer.

Discount rates

The discount rate offered for a lump sum payment on a structured settlement is similar to the interest rate that consumers pay on a standard consumer loan. The company buying the settlement payments wants to do so at a discount because they are taking the risk of possibly never receiving the payments. The lower the discount rate, the better it is for the consumer. There are some important considerations for consumers when analyzing discount rates for the purchase of their structured settlement payments.

• Negotiate the rate: The interest rate quoted is not set in stone. When reviewing quotes, consumers should feel comfortable negotiating a better rate with each company. While there are standard rates at any given time, the purchaser is trying to get the highest discount and consumers should strive for the lowest.
• Shop around: The discount rate is one of the features of a structured settlement purchase that will vary widely from company to company and state to state. Be sure to shop around for the lowest discount rate and have knowledge of the current going rate.
• Understand the rate: Consumers who do not have a good comfort level with financial formulas should consult a professional or acquaintance that does. Quotes and the explanation for rates can be confusing and a good account executive at any company will take the time to help the consumer understand the full transaction.

Customer service options

When searching for a company to purchase future payments, access to customer service is extremely important. The process can be difficult for those with little financial, tax and legal knowledge and access to customer service can help to reduce fear and stress around the transaction.

• Customer service hours: Keep in mind that Customer Service hours vary based on time zones. For example, if a customer lives on the West Coast and the company buying the payments has East Coast hours, they may find themselves frustrated at 2:00 pm when they can’t get a hold of anyone.
• Online chat: Being able to get help instantly, and not having to wait on hold, can be an advantage when trying to understand and keep track of a transaction. Online chat gives consumers an opportunity to get answers immediately.
• Dedicated representative: Some companies provide a dedicated service professional for their clients for the duration of the transaction. This can help to avoid repeated explanations of the situation and reduce the stress of understanding a complicated financial transaction.

Company reputation

In order to avoid scams, consumers should do their homework and research companies who offer to purchase structured settlement payments. While some very reputable companies run late-night television ads, others who are not as reputable do as well. Researching a company’s reputation is not difficult and it’s an important step towards a successful transaction.

• Number of denials: A judge can deny the contract for the purchase of a structured settlement. Companies who offer the most professional service should have a low denial rate.
• Customer reviews: Finding unbiased customer reviews can warn of potential problems. Reviews not located on the company’s website are a good source.
• Dollars purchased: The amount of structured payments purchased by a company can be a good indicator of their health and stability

What types of structured settlement companies are there?

There are three loan ways to implement this kind of mortgage company marketing strategy, depending on what type of company you have. Here’s how local, regional, and national companies can approach it:Local mortgage companies can double or triple loan their website traffic by publishing local housing and mortgage information. That’s a conservative statement. We’ve actually witnessed a tenfold increase in web traffic (e.g., 20 visitors per day becomes 200 visitors), especially with companies that didn’t have much of an internet “footprint” before launching a loan publishing program.

Example: a company that does business in Austin, Texas would be wise to publish loan internet articles about “Austin mortgage rate trends.” There’s less search-engine competition at the local (city / metro) level. So it’s easier to rank well for these phrases in Google, Yahoo and Bing.

So, what else do you write about? What kind of loan website content works best for generating traffic and leads? Here are some of the most popular local topics among mortgage shoppers: