Contact UsThe IRS's guidelines for recordkeeping for charitable contributions are very confusingLast year, I made a single non-cash contribution of about $1000 worth of miscellaneous items. What "level" of proof am I going to need to substantiate this? Depending on how I read the IRS's instructions, sometimes it sounds like I just need a simple receipt with the date and a vague description (like "clothing and household goods"), and it seems like I need a detailed description of everything I donated on the receipt.
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Tax Professional Answers
John Stancil
It can get confusing because the letter of the law and actual practice differ. All the organization is likely to give you is a generic receipt stating something like "household goods." I know of one nationwide organization that lets you schedule your pick up online and they provide a receipt at point for you to download and fill in.
The way it works in practice is that you attach a detailed listing to the receipt provided by the organization - "12 men's dress shirts, 3 handbags, etc." You don't need to include the receipt or listing with your return, but have it available in the event you are questioned. You can go to a website such as www.itsdeductible.com and make a detailed schedule of your contribution and it will assign a value to each item you list. I have found this to be very helpful for my own use and for my clients. And it is free.
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510 weeks ago
The way it works in practice is that you attach a detailed listing to the receipt provided by the organization - "12 men's dress shirts, 3 handbags, etc." You don't need to include the receipt or listing with your return, but have it available in the event you are questioned. You can go to a website such as www.itsdeductible.com and make a detailed schedule of your contribution and it will assign a value to each item you list. I have found this to be very helpful for my own use and for my clients. And it is free.