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Posted by : Daniel Stoica in (Blog, Tax Tips) On: July 14th, 2011
4 Reasons to Donate Instead of Having a Yard Sale
Tagged Under : accounting professional, Arc, charity, Daniel Stoica, donate, Good Will, IRS, profit, tax deduction, tax professional, Tax Return, taxes, thrift stores, time saver, unwanted items, yard sale
Instead of having a yard sale this summer, consider donating to a worthy charity. There are, at least, four reasons to donate instead of having a garage or yard sale. Being charitable is a lot more fulfilling that making a profit.
1. Donating is a time saver. If you add up all of the hours you spend preparing for and having your garage or yard sale, and then cleaning up afterwards, you will end up spending 20-30 hours on it. By donating, you may only spend an hour gathering your stuff, loading it into your car and driving to the Good Will or Arc Thrift Stores.
2. You will get rid of you unwanted items. When you finish with a yard sale, you generally end up with some stuff left over. What do you do with it? Do you store it away for the next yard sale? Why not just save yourself the time and take it to the thrift store. It’s still in good shape, otherwise you wouldn’t be trying to sell it. If you give it to charity to start with, you won’t have to go through all of that.
3. You will get a tax deduction for donating to a qualified charity, which can save you hundreds of dollars on your taxes. A lot of people do make some money holding garage or yard sales. If you make $300 for 30 hours of work, you are making $10 per hour. But you can make the same amount, if not more, by donating and taking a tax deduction. The IRS will give you about $150 on your federal tax return if you are in the 15% tax bracket and $1000 if you are in the 25% tax bracket. So, a $1000 worth of donations will save you approximately $250 in taxes.
4. You are helping people by donating. There are a lot of people who need your unwanted items and when you donate to places like Good Will or Arc, the items are sold, mainly to lower-income people, and part of the proceeds goes to developmentally challenged individuals. By donating, everyone wins and you feel good because you have done something to help others.
So, if you are thinking about having a garage or yard sale, please consider the alternative and donate to a charitable cause. You will save time while still getting rid of items you don’t need, you’ll lower your taxes, and you will be doing a good thing for others.
