WWYD? (Tax related)

sunshine_day_dreams · February 2011

At Christmas time, my group at work sponsored a couple of families through the Salvation Army and bought new clothes, coats, toys, etc. for the families. K and I want to write off our expenses, but the SA never provided a receipt. I wasn't the contact person for the donation, so I'm having a hard time getting the receipt. The woman who was in charge is ridiculously busy and hasn't gotten around to it, and I want to file so that I can get my refund. I do have a Target receipt for the things I purchased, but no way to prove they were actually donated.

Would you go ahead and claim in on your taxes anyway and assume a low risk of being audited, or would you continue to harass the woman in charge to get a receipt for you?

JenO24 · February 2011

if it were me - id claim them and still harass the woman in charge to get the receipt that way you'll have it, just in case

SusieQ1981 · February 2011

I'd just claim them and probably stop asking the woman for the receipt. If you have your Target receipts you can prove the value. Most times when we clean out our closets we just put the donations in those bins they have in grocery store parking lots - and I estimate the value and claim it on our taxes.

shauni27 · February 2011

i thought in order to see a refund in your taxes for donations, you had to spend over a certain amount annual (or give away that certain value amount) and i thought it was about $500?

sunshine_day_dreams · February 2011

shauni27:
i thought in order to see a refund in your taxes for donations, you had to spend over a certain amount annual (or give away that certain value amount) and i thought it was about $500?

I itemize deductions since I have a mortgage, so I can claim any deduction amount. Just some may not have that much of an effect on the refund amount.

LauraT25 · February 2011

I'm with Shauni, is it even enough to claim and/or affect your refund? Obviously I don't know the ins and outs of your finances, but I donated my car after it died one year and had a receipt stating the value was $250 (whomp whomp whomp). When I put it on my tax form online, my itemized deductible was still less than the standard, so it wound up not mattering. The only other things I can claim are student loan interest and prescriptions, though, which for me doesn't add up to a ton.

sunshine_day_dreams · February 2011

SusieQ1981:
I'd just claim them and probably stop asking the woman for the receipt. If you have your Target receipts you can prove the value. Most times when we clean out our closets we just put the donations in those bins they have in grocery store parking lots - and I estimate the value and claim it on our taxes.

This was my thought, too - just stop giving this poor lady grief and take my chances, but K's started freaking me out about getting audited. We donated a TON of stuff this year since we cleaned out a lot once we got wedding gifts, and he's starting to get all nervous that they're going to audit when they see how much we're claiming as donations. Personally, I think (well, know) it's small peanuts compared to what some people must donate, but he's got me all on edge over it now.

SusieQ1981 · February 2011

sunshine_day_dreams:

SusieQ1981:
I'd just claim them and probably stop asking the woman for the receipt. If you have your Target receipts you can prove the value. Most times when we clean out our closets we just put the donations in those bins they have in grocery store parking lots - and I estimate the value and claim it on our taxes.

This was my thought, too - just stop giving this poor lady grief and take my chances, but K's started freaking me out about getting audited. We donated a TON of stuff this year since we cleaned out a lot once we got wedding gifts, and he's starting to get all nervous that they're going to audit when they see how much we're claiming as donations. Personally, I think (well, know) it's small peanuts compared to what some people must donate, but he's got me all on edge over it now.

The first year I just guessed on a couple of amounts, I spazzed too. But I think the % of households that get audited is soooooo small. It gets easier after the first time Wink Plus, if you do get audited, couldn't you just go back to her for the receipt then?

mushE · February 2011

I would claim them, and keep the Target receipt with your tax materials. Like you said, the likelihood of being audited is very low. Do you have anything from work that shows there was this drive to donate items? Just to link it up.

I wouldn't bother asking for a receipt anymore. I think it'd be really hard for her to get it and, if she got it, it would just be a blank and would cover everything that was donated.

stephaniem1977 · February 2011

I'd claim it and also stop asking for the receipt. Chances of them auditing you are very slim. You can also just usually walk into a salvation army or goodwill and ask for a blank receipt and fill it out yourself. That's what the one near me does anyway. If you want I can get one and mail it to you.

sunshine_day_dreams · February 2011

Thanks. I think you're all right. I will just claim it and stop asking for a receipt. If I were to get audited, I could probably go back to the SA and ask for a receipt.

stephaniem1977:
I'd claim it and also stop asking for the receipt. Chances of them auditing you are very slim. You can also just usually walk into a salvation army or goodwill and ask for a blank receipt and fill it out yourself. That's what the one near me does anyway. If you want I can get one and mail it to you.

Thanks for the offer, Steph. I'd thought of that myself, but around here they all put the date on them before they give them to you otherwise blank. It would have a 2011 date on it, so that wouldn't work for claiming it in 2010.

WWYD? (Tax related)

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