Selling a car on your own is never easy. There is the hassle of placing classified ads, and showing the vehicle. You never know who will show up, or if they will go through with the transaction. If you have ever traded in a car towards the purchase of a new vehicle, then you know that dealers rarely give you what the car is worth.

Car donation to charity is a great alternative. It avoids all of the hassles of a trade in, or private sale. You receive the full “book value” of your car as a Tax Deduction, and more often than not – you end up helping a family in need.

There are many charitable organizations that accept vehicles as donations. Some resell the cars and any proceeds go to benefit the given charity, others will use the donated cars within the charity, and still others actually fix up the car and provide it at no charge to a needy family. In any case, and no matter whom you choose to donate your vehicle to, the process couldn’t be simpler – your car does not even need to be running for it to be accepted for donation. Usually you can fill out all of the paper work online, you receive a receipt for your tax deduction, and the charity arranges for towing service to pick up the vehicle. Some charities offer other incentives or “bonuses” to thank you for your donation, such as vouchers for trips, hotel stays, or restaurants.

The program does not only apply to cars. Charities that accept vehicles for donation will usually accept RVs, Motorcycles, or boats as well.

To be sure, car donation to charity is a much more meaningful alternative to a junkyard. However, before you decide to donate your vehicle, there are a few tips that the experts suggest to make sure the charity is legitimate, and your car donations are actually serving the purpose intended. Of course, if a charity you are already a regular contributor to accepts cars for donation – that is a good place to start, as is your house of worship..

Avoid middlemen. If possible, try not to use a service that advertises aggressively and claims they accept cars for donations for charities. These “middlemen” typically keep the majority of the proceeds from the donated car for themselves, and only funnel a small amount to the charity.

Also, keep in mind that in order to receive the full tax benefit of a car donation, you must be sure that the charity you are donating to is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. You can find details of reputable charities at http://www.charitynavigator.org/. Statistics in Wikipedia show that 733,000 taxpayers got the benefits of donating their car to charities and reduced their taxes by $ 654 million. These numbers are growing rapidly. Selling a used car can be very time-consuming, and expensive. Advertisements will need to be placed in leading dailies, which is an expensive proposition. Then there is the tension of waiting for interested parties to come and check out your car before buying it.

We all have items in life that make us feel good on the inside, such as our baseball card collections, our gym sets, or our luxury cars. That last item of the aforementioned list, luxury cars, is usually thought of as something obtained and utilized by rich, snobby individuals, as the cars themselves typically allow a person to experience comfort and ease of maneuverability.

Research shows, though, that many people have luxury cars; it is just that many people are afraid to drive them and get them ruined, or they are too costly to keep up-to-date. So, then, what should individuals who have luxury cars do with them if they cannot use them like they would like? Well, instead of letting them sit and “rot” in driveways, why not donate them; when you donate the car, the proceeds should be given to a charity in need.

Individuals will find tips below on why donating their luxury cars can be beneficial:

1) You are helping aid someone in his or her struggle with a problem: Perhaps, for example, by donating your luxurious vehicle you are giving someone over $5,000.00 towards a new liver or heart, organs that our bodies need to survive. Thus, you could essentially be giving a person the “gift of life” by getting rid of something that you may not even use. Is it not evident that life is more important than flaunting a car? In addition, you could be giving your car to someone who has problems walking or bicycling to a job each day, and some of your car parts, or the car itself, will be given to that person.

2) You will be able to write off the market value of the car from your income taxes: By giving your vehicle to a donation site, you will be given a full tax reduction; in addition, they will come and take the vehicle off of your lot- you should not have to drive the luxury car to their location.

3) You will aid the environment: One fewer car coughing out pollutants is better than nothing, and when you donate your luxurious car to a charity, you are aiding the Earth in her struggles against deadly toxins and other nasty conditions.

4) You may get some benefits from the company to which you donate: For example, if you donate your luxury vehicle to a company, it may have some perks with it, such as: all-paid family vacations, gasoline coupons, or even some cash for the vehicle itself. Experts advise, though, that individuals be educated enough about the company to which they are donating their luxury car so that they are not scammed; unfortunately, there are people out there who do take advantage of people, and it is best that people do thorough investigations prior to donating their beautiful cars.

Thus, donating a luxury car can make the giver perceive a sense of self-worth and accomplishment, in that she has helped some people, the environment, and herself.

Donating used cars to local charities can be both beneficial to the giver and the receiver. Not only does it save you the time and hassle of selling your vehicle privately, but it also provides much needed funds to charities raising money for a cause. Perhaps the biggest incentive among Americans is that giving a charitable car donation is a large tax incentive.

Tax laws for donated car write-offs have changed significantly throughout the years, due to greedy taxpayers who were claiming more credit then their vehicle was worth. Because of a large percentage of donors writing off the suggested retail price of their donation rather then the fair market value of the auto, tax laws were changed in 2005 and are far stricter.

The first important factor in charitable donation tax write-offs, that you must know, is that the tax deduction is no longer the fair market value of the vehicle. Your deduction will now be the charities selling price of the car. The charity is not required to tell you the estimated sales price prior to donating your vehicle. Once you have donated the vehicle, the charity is required to send you a sales receipt of the car within 30 days. This receipt will be the amount of your car donation write-off, and will be required to be attached to your tax return as supporting documentation.

Like any rule, there is always a short cut or exception to the rule. This IRS tax rule states that if the charity you have donated your car to is able to use the car as a “significant” work of charity, defined in the tax law, you are able to write-off the fair market value of the vehicle.

Understandably, car donations have gone down significantly within the past five years due to confusion in the new tax laws. What most people do not understand is that you must do your research. Find a charity that will be able to use your vehicle rather then sell it, and get the highest possible deduction from your donated car.