Donating cars, clothes, and other depreciating properties

Selling property first then donate to charity

If instead of directly making charitable contributions, you first sell your property , you can claim a loss on the sale and then claim a charitable contribution on your charitable contrition of the sale proceeds.

Example of charitable giving of cars, clothing, furniture or appliances

When you are making a charitable giving of cars, clothing, furniture, appliances or any property that is personal use, a loss on the sale is not deductible. It usually makes no difference whether you sell the items first for fair market value and then donate the proceeds of sales to charity or donate the property directly to a charity.

Is selling then donate proceeds or making charitable contributions of property better?

Your charitable tax deduction of your charitable giving will be the value of the property except in the case of a car or other vehicle subject to a new restrictions. The tax deduction due to charitable giving of property may be less than the fair market value if the charity sells the vehicle for less. To sum up, generally there is no difference but for vehicles, it is better to sell the property first then donate the proceeds because you may be able to sell those properties for higher value than the charity can.