donating vs selling

[MichelleinMaine]

(No offense to Goodwill, but I know too many rich people who shop there - I give to local charities that I know will give the items to needy families.)

Clarifying the purpose of Goodwill's thrift shops (not just for you, but they seem to get a bad rap alot of times for charging too much for stuff/etc) .... they are essentially a fundraiser, not a "place for poor people to get stuff".

Goodwill's mission is to help people overcome barriers to employment, so essentially giving poor people skills and jobs over "stuff".

Here in Northern New England, there is a heavy emphasis on helping folks with brain injuries get back into the workplace. They also have opened several retraining centers for non-brain injured people who have lost their jobs. (They did alot of work with military-affiliated people when our local Navy base was closed.) Different regions have different focuses based on what other services are available in that area, etc.

So while it's true that donations to Goodwill may not mean your items go to poor people (though that is a side benefit sometimes), the donations definately do benefit many people who need the help!

 

[imsayin]

My tax rep said that we could just take up to the allowable amount without a receipt - beyond that we'd have to add up the fair market value.

The allowable amount without a receipt is zero. You should get a new tax rep. You need to compute the value of your donation no matter what the amount is, and you need to have a receipt.