How much tax return will I get back if I donate my car to charity?

This Question by Waldo Waldo Waldo!: How much tax return will I get back if I donate my car to charity?
Someone told me you get 0 in tax return if you donate your car to charity. I live in California so another state could be different.

Some helpful answers:

Answer by Jessie H
I would imagine that they are other factors to consider:
Income
Tax amount taken out of paychecks
Deductions

Answer by mother love
i got 5,000 last year for my car

Answer by whotoblame
There’s a difference between a tax return and a tax credit. A tax credit is the amount you are allowed to deduct from your taxable income. A tax return or refund is an actual dollar amount you get back from the government. Donating your car will get you a tax credit.

Answer by flossie mae
My daughtetr got nothing in Illinois.

Answer by midnightrose
I got a tax credit of 0 which amounted to almost nothing. I pretty much gave it away for free, and I do regret it….

Answer by wartz
You can claim a charitable contribution for whatever the charity sells the car for if the value is over 0. If it is under that, you can claim the fair market value.

btw: I am also a Californian. Makes no difference.

Answer by Judy
First of all, you can only deduct a charitable contribution if you itemize, so if you don’t itemize, there’s no tax benefit to you from the donation.

Charities usually sell donated cars at auction, and they’ll give you a receipt for the car showing how much it sold for – that’s the amount you can deduct. Be aware that cars being auctioned usually sell below what would be fair market value.

The tax benefit from the deduction is at most the amount of the deduction times your tax bracket. So if they sold the car for 00, and your tax bracket is 15%, your tax savings would at most be 0.

This is for federal taxes, so the rules are the same in every state of the US.

Answer by ninasgramma
Charitable donations do not result in payments to you. Charitable donations only reduce your taxable income, and then only if you itemize.

If you are in the 15% tax bracket, you would need to donate a car worth ,500 and have total itemizations greater than ,850 in order to reduce your taxes 0.