Write-Offs: IRS Warns About Car Donations, New Figures on Foundation Assets, and How Much Americans Are Able to Give

December 13, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute

The IRS has warned people who want to donate cars to charity not to inflate the value of their vehicles, saying that some operators of charitable-donation programs are encouraging donors to deduct more than the fair-market value of the cars. It also warned donors to make sure the charities that receive donated vehicles are legitimate and to keep proper records. The alert, IR-2001-112, may be found on the revenue service’s Web site, at http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-news/ir01-112.pdf.
The assets held by the nation’s 100 largest private foundations more than tripled in value between 1985 and 1997, from $37.6-billion to $120.6-billion, a 221-percent increase, the Internal Revenue Service says in a recent study. The study can be found online at http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-soi/97pfpanl.pdf.
Despite the weak economy, Americans could comfortably give $127-billion more than they probably will in 2001, according to estimates by the Newtithing Group, a San Francisco charity formed by Claude Rosenberg, a retired investment manager. For more information, contact Tim Stone, Executive Vice President, Newtithing Group, 4 Embarcadero Center, Suite 3700, San Francisco, Calif. 94111-4107; (415) 274-2754; fax (415) 274-2756; online at http://www.newtithing.org.