Should donors cheat for charity? No. But the U.S. General
Accounting Office has found a dubious practice that is widespread:
tax deductions taken for vehicles donated to charities that far
exceed both the vehicles' value by any objective measure and the
amount charities receive for them.
Not only can the charities actually lose money on a vehicle
donated and auctioned off, the U.S. Treasury loses an undetermined
portion of the $654 million in deductions taxpayers take for donating
cars to charity.
Congress, of course, perked up at this anomaly. The House and the
Senate have passed bills that would require an independent appraisal
of the vehicle to set the deductible amount or allow the ...