The focus of donated-car programs on the benefits to the donor is equally troubling. If dragging the hulk out of your driveway and filling out all the Internal Revenue Service and motor vehicle department forms for you isn't a quid pro quo, I don't know what is. Requiring the receipt to show the actual amount the charity receives as a result of each donation puts the donor in a strong position to decide whether that method of getting rid of an unwanted vehicle is really worth it. The change in the standards for determining allowable deductions is consistent with the way another, more familiar tangle in the fund-raising underbrush has been tamed. Organizers of fund-raising galas must estimate the fair market value of the refreshments and entertainment received by ticket buyers.
Any tax deduction is limited to the difference between that amount and the price of admission.
If we don't adopt such a solution for donated cars, charities could end up with reputations no better than those of used-car salesmen. Putnam Barber, a regular contributor to these pages, is president of the Evergreen State Society in Seattle, which works to strengthen non-profit groups and civic organizations.