mxt IS RIGHT, IF THE CAR IS OWNED BY THE MONK YOU can't WRITE IT OFF. hE IS NOT A CHARITY. tOO BAD.
Oops, caps lock on. sorry

 

Agree with Morris and MXT. Just because you "donate" something to someone, it doesn't mean that's charity in legal IRS terms. It would have to be to the monastery. Now, it doesn't necessarily have to be the monastery's car. You may be able to arrange "donation" of the parts to the monastery if they agree to provide the parts to the monk.

 

the car was donated to a temple in missouri. the monk was using it to travel. while in town his check engine light came on and i fixed it.

 

Then you should be good. Ask the monk if you can contact whomever handles the finances of the temple. Have them write you a receipt for your goods donated to the religious organization. Note that when you donate to charitable organizations, the tax forms are pretty explicit about wanting the organization's address, phone number, etc. They should be registered as a charitable organization, too.

 

you do know that churches are one of the riches organizations in this country right...

 

That sounds like a random generalization to me. Feel free to post supporting evidence, though. And feel free to post information about the specific monastery, too, while you're at it.

While churches get some good tax breaks in the US, they still have to own & maintain their property, pay their staff, etc. Most of the rest of their money is re-invested in the community. They survive on the charity of their members and others. I read an article a while back that indicated that the Vatican actually operated at a loss.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_225810.html

 

good info. thanks Ckit.

 

until you go over about the 5000 dollar mark for charitable donations, depending on your filing status, it will yield you absolutely nothing.

 

Do what ckit said. Also if you keep the deduction to max 500 dollars the chances of it being red flagged are slim to none.

 

Huh? If you're in the 25% tax bracket, then it yields 25% of whatever you donate. For a $500 'donation', that's $125. That might be nothing to you, but it's something to a lot of other people.