Car Donation Charity
How to Determine the Fair Market Value

The information below provides a step-by-step means to determine the fair market value of a noncash charitable contribution.

Help a child. Donate Your Vehicle & Receive...

• Fast Free Towing all vehicles

• Tax Deduction (or free vacation)

• All With No Paper-work Hassle!

donate your car animation sequence - showing free towing - tax deduction - no hassle - donate and help a child

IMPORTANT: Click here for the Latest Tax Information about
How to Determine the Value of your tax deduction

NOTE: The Fair Market Value is no longer the determining factor for the value of a vehicle donation.

You should also be cautious of any Car Donation Charity that claims to offer you the Full Fair Market Value for your vehicle donation. If a charity does claim this you must read the fine print and be very aware of the actual IRS information on this subject.

To provide donors with an idea of what their vehicle donation may sell for at an auction we have begun adding some of this information to our website.

"I just wanted to say "Thank you" to everyone that donates to this cause and to all of the people that work for this cause. We just received more teddy bears and we can't say enough about all of you.

"I gave one out on June 11, 2009 to a 12 year old girl who was in a car accident. She took if from me, smiled with a tear on her cheek, and hugged it. It made her day so much better and it wouldn't have been possible without Teddy Bear Cops and the wonderful, giving people in our country. Thank you." — Lt. White Fire Dept.

You can click on the following links for an overview of the new
IRS Publications 4303, 561 and 526.

To speed your donation please fill out our online form.

This web page should provide answers to questions on the value of a car or any vehicle donation since the new tax laws went into effect.

The rest of the information on this page may have uses but is no longer the main method of determing the value of your car donation and the amount of the tax deduction.

1. Kelly Blue Book Fairmarket Value Overview.

2. Kelly Blue Book Fairmarket Value Prceedure.

3. Appraisals

4. IRS Tax Information.

Open this page on the Kelley Blue book site, http://www.kbb.com.

(You can return to this page at any time to determine the fair market value of the vehicle. We also provide this information in our email instructions).

See/hear the Teddy Bear Song on www.youtube.com
“A Tribute To All Things Teddy Bear.”

1. Kelly Blue Book Fair market Value Overview.

The fair market value, per the new tax law, is determined by the donor, not the charity, if the vehicle sells for less than $500.

The following step-by-step instructions will assist you in determining the fair market value of your vehicle using the Kelley Blue Book.

We try to keep this current but the Kelley Blue Book site is constantly changing. Please do read and follow these directions in order to get a very accurate idea of the fair market value of your donated vehicle. If there is any difference on the site from these instructions you will still find these instructions helpful.

2. Kelly Blue Book Fair market Value Procedure. (Should you want to find this out).

1. On the home page click on the link called "Used Car Values by Make and Model".

2. At the top of the next page you select the YEAR of your vehicle then select the MAKE of your vehicle and the MODEL from the pull down menus and then click GO.

3. The next page that comes up gives you three choices:

Kelley Blue Book Trade-In Value

The value you may expect to be offered by a dealer when trading in your own used vehicle.

Kelley Blue Book Private Party Value

The value of a used vehicle in a transaction between two consumers.

Kelley Blue Book Suggested Retail Value

The asking price you may expect to find when shopping for a used vehicle from a dealer.

4. On the next page its asks you to select the Trim (details about your particular model). Choose from the list.

5. On the next page that comes up there are a series of boxes requiring information. In the top box you are asked for things like the type of engine or whether automatic or manual transmissions, etc. Check these correctly according to your car.

6. In the next box (down) you need to fill in the Mileage of your car and your Zip Code.

7. In the next box down the page, you need to check off the various Options that apply to your car. These are things like Power Steering, air conditioning, cruise control, etc. etc. Check all that apply.

8. The bottom box is entitled "Select Vehicle Condition". Choose "Rate It" or "Help Me", which is the last box on the right. Kelley Blue Book has changed the name of this button a few times, but it is always the last button on the right and when selected allows you to give a very detailed "rating" of your vehicle. This is important in order to accurately get the Fair Market Value for your vehicle.

9. After choosing "Rate It" or "Help Me" click on the bottom button called, "Get Pricing Report". This takes you to another page.

10. On this page you rate the following: Exterior Condition; Interior Condition, Mechanical Condition, Miscellaneous. Each of these categories has several aspects of the car's condition to rate. There are usually 3 columns for each of these aspects. Choose one rating for each. Do not skip any of these. You will thus fully rate your car.

11. When this is done click on "Get Pricing Report" at the bottom of the page. This takes you to a page that gives the Private Sale Value for your car rated exactly as it is, in its current condition. You should print this page for your tax record.

Please start the fast easy donation process.

3. Appraisals

Appraisals are no longer needed due to simplification of the new tax laws.

For other ways to determine value or to find the value of vehicle's not listed in Kelley Blue Book click here.

You may find it helpful to read our Tax Deduction Overview.

4. IRS Tax Information from the IRS Website

The publications on the IRS website are now in a viewable and printable form that require Adobe Type Reader to view and print. If you do not have this tool you can obtain it at the following link: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. Acrobat Reader is free.

Here is the link for the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/.

For information about determining the "fair market value" of a vehicle you can read "Publication 526 Charitable Contributions". This link is at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf. You can read the entire publication or you can start at page 7 of the document. Be sure to read the section entitled "Contribution of Property" and a section called "Determining Fair Market Value" and there is another section called "Cars, boats, and aircraft." This gives very specific information about that type of donation.

There is another IRS form that is pertinent, that is Publication 561. The publication is entitled, "Publication 561 Determining the Value of Donated Property". You can find that publication at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p561.pdf.

There is a tax form that you will need when you fill out your return. It is form 8283. You can find this form at the IRS web page http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8283.pdf. The instructions for this form can be found at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8283.pdf.

You can also contact the IRS directly for further assistance

Visit the IRS Contact Page at http://www.irs.gov/contact/index.html.

Here is the link to the new IRS information: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4303.pdf.

You can find direct links to all of these IRS webpages here.

	Kelley Blue Book Trade-In Value
	The value you may expect to be offered by a dealer when trading in your own used vehicle.

	Kelley Blue Book Private Party Value
	The value of a used vehicle in a transaction between two consumers.

	Kelley Blue Book Suggested Retail Value
	The asking price you may expect to find when shopping for a used vehicle from a dealer.

Car Donation Charity How to Determine the Fair Market Value