What are the “tax receipts” for when you donate clothes, furniture, etc?

[Anonymous]

Husband and I are just normal middle class around $300K HHI with really, really simple tax filings. We just donated tons of nice furniture, clothes, etc. I know the receipts we got are for tax purposes but I don’t understand how they work. We’ve donated in years past, too, but never declared the receipts or values on our taxes or anything. But this recent donation was certainly our highest value ever.

Can anyone kindly explain if and how it’s worthwhile to use such a thing on our 2025 taxes? Let’s say what we donated has an estimated value of $3K or so. (The men who unloaded it all sounded like they planned to keep the furniture for themselves because it was so nice. We just didn’t feel safe with randoms coming by our home to buy it.)

[Anonymous]

You're still not going to hit the standard deduction so don't waste your time.

[Anonymous]

Do you itemize?

[Anonymous]

Read the IRS instructions. If an item is valued over some dollar amount you need an appraisal. The only valuable item we ever bothered with as an "in kind" deduction was our car and for that the charity sent us a letter saying what it sold for. If it was a bunch of things that's different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're still not going to hit the standard deduction so don't waste your time.

OP This is your answer!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're still not going to hit the standard deduction so don't waste your time.

I figured that’s probably why we never have. Why do they bother giving everyone a receipt then if it’s pointless? Who actually uses the receipts on their taxes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you itemize?

I don’t know what that means if that’s a tax question. But if mean like on the donation receipt, yes, that details everything we donated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're still not going to hit the standard deduction so don't waste your time.

Between SALT and mortgage interest deduction, you easily could.

[Anonymous]

I itemize on my federal taxes because you can't itemize on MD state taxes unless you itemize on federal and what I lose on federal taxes I more than make back at the state level. You have to do the math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you itemize?

I don’t know what that means if that’s a tax question. But if mean like on the donation receipt, yes, that details everything we donated.

I say this kindly - You need to do some reading on tax filings. This is a very basic question that you should be able to answer as an adult who files taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're still not going to hit the standard deduction so don't waste your time.

If OP has a mortgage she'll have no trouble exceeding the standard deduction.

OP, you sound like a great candidate for retail tax software that will walk you through this. It will tell you the options for estimating the value of the things you donated. For now, take a picture of the donated items and the receipt you were given, and email to yourself with a text description of the items. Refer back to this email at tax time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you itemize?

I don’t know what that means if that’s a tax question. But if mean like on the donation receipt, yes, that details everything we donated.

I say this kindly - You need to do some reading on tax filings. This is a very basic question that you should be able to answer as an adult who files taxes.

You’d be surprised. A lot of people just take them to an accountant (also fine). No reason to be snippy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're still not going to hit the standard deduction so don't waste your time.

If OP has a mortgage she'll have no trouble exceeding the standard deduction.

OP, you sound like a great candidate for retail tax software that will walk you through this. It will tell you the options for estimating the value of the things you donated. For now, take a picture of the donated items and the receipt you were given, and email to yourself with a text description of the items. Refer back to this email at tax time.

Yes, we have a mortgage.

And in response to the snippy comment, we just give our employer tax documents and mortgage stuff to an accountant friend every January.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're still not going to hit the standard deduction so don't waste your time.

If OP has a mortgage she'll have no trouble exceeding the standard deduction.

OP, you sound like a great candidate for retail tax software that will walk you through this. It will tell you the options for estimating the value of the things you donated. For now, take a picture of the donated items and the receipt you were given, and email to yourself with a text description of the items. Refer back to this email at tax time.

Yes, we have a mortgage.

And in response to the snippy comment, we just give our employer tax documents and mortgage stuff to an accountant friend every January.

NP here. I'm sorry, accountant or not this is basic, fundamental stuff every adult should know. We're not asking you for a learned discourse on carried interest - whether to itemize or take the standard deduction is literally the only decision most people have to make when preparing their taxes. You've never asked your accountant any questions, at all?

At a minimum, don't be so proudly ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you itemize?

I don’t know what that means if that’s a tax question. But if mean like on the donation receipt, yes, that details everything we donated.

I say this kindly - You need to do some reading on tax filings. This is a very basic question that you should be able to answer as an adult who files taxes.

You’d be surprised. A lot of people just take them to an accountant (also fine). No reason to be snippy.

That’s what I do. I do a lot of things well. Taxes is not one of them.