So much so that he not only bought two cars from the students but also donated a truck to the Montgomery County Students Automotive Trades Foundation. It too has been rebuilt and will soon be sold to support the auto-mechanics program. If you bring old linens and carpet squares to line cages, that's something we don't have to buy. At the end of the year, make donations not just with kindness in their hearts but with deductions on their minds. Besides expensive art or jewelry, cars are the donation that offers perhaps the biggest tax break available to most people.
Charities know that.
Around Washington, the Salvation Army alone takes in about 14,000 vehicles a year. It's up to each taxpayer to prove the fair market value of any item given. It's simplest to transfer that figure to your tax form, but the Internal Revenue Service warns that simple isn't always right. The same rules apply for any goods you donate, from cars to cookpots to more personal items. Had an auditor disagreed with that value, the IRS could have nixed the President's deductions.