If you have any questions that are not answered on this page, please reach out to IIBA or call CARS at (855)-500-RIDE.
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Pre-Donation
It’s easy! Head over to our Donate Your Car page and fill out the form. After you submit your donation form with the required information, someone from CARS, our partner organization that helps facilitate the vehicle donation process, will contact you shortly with next steps and to arrange for your free vehicle pickup.
There are many benefits to donating to a non-profit like IIBA!
• Donating is easy and the pick-up is FREE
• Donating skips the costs and hassles associated with selling a car (e.g. paying for advertising and insurance or car repairs)
• Donating avoids the costs associated with keeping an unwanted car, such as registration, insurance, car repairs, and more
• You can free up space at home and/or stop paying for extra parking
• It’s better than settling for a low trade-in offer
• Vehicle donations are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE! You can reduce your taxable income when taxes are itemized
• Donating to a non-profit like IIBA helps fund our legal services and makes a difference in the lives of immigrants!
Donated vehicles are sold through the used-car markets and provide crucial funding for nonprofit programs and services, like the immigration legal services offered by IIBA! CARS, our partner organization, works with an extensive network of nationwide and independent suppliers to sell your donated vehicle and maximize donation proceeds to the non-profit. This ensures that you maximize your donor tax benefit while the non-profit (us!) receives the best possible return on your donation!
You will need a current and clear title. Any lien holder listed on the title must be cleared and/or released by the bank. This law varies by state.
All vehicles are considered! We strive to accept all types of donated vehicles (running or not!) including cars, trailers, boats, RVs, motorcycles, campers, off-road vehicles, planes, heavy equipment, farm machinery, and most other motorized vehicles. To find out if your vehicle is accepted, please complete our secure online vehicle donation form located here, or call CARS toll-free at (855)-500-RIDE.
None at all! There is NO COST to the donor–all expenses are deducted from the gross sales price, and if the costs ever exceed the price, those costs are covered by CARS.
The entire sale process can take approximately 4-12 weeks. The net cash proceeds from your generous vehicle donation are sent to IIBA within 5 business days upon the receipt of the sale proceeds from CARS auction or direct buy vendors.
Once you have provided us with all necessary information via our online donation form, we will arrange to have a licensed tow company pick up your vehicle at a time convenient for you. The vehicle will be picked up and taken to one of CARS’ many sale locations where it will be sold–all at NO COST to you!
This requirement varies from state to state. Give CARS a call at (855)-500-RIDE, and they will confirm for you. Each Vehicle Donor Service Representative is equipped with a 50-state guide for the steps necessary in each state and will advise you of those steps throughout the entire donation process. Rest assured!
No. Even for states that require a smog certificate or safety inspection, you may still donate your vehicle without a smog certificate or safety inspection.
Absolutely! We can accept most vehicles, running or not. However, it must be in one piece and towable, have an engine and be tow truck accessible. To find out whether or not your vehicle can be accepted, please complete our secure online vehicle donation form located here, or call CARS toll-free at (855)-500-RIDE.
Yes; however this varies by state. Salvage titles differ from junk titles. Salvage titles have been inspected and approved to be back on the road while a junk title is basically a non-operational vehicle that is usually sold for parts. Please give CARS a call at (855)-500-RIDE to find out if we can accept your salvage title.
Towing/Pickup
No! Vehicle donors do NOT pay for towing; it’s free! The vehicles are picked up at no charge to you. All expenses are deducted from the gross sales price, and if the costs ever exceed the price, those costs are covered by CARS.
Once you have submitted your online car donation form and your vehicle has been accepted for donation, our vendor representative for your donation will be in contact for pick-up scheduling. Please be aware that you may receive a call from a phone number that you don’t recognize pertaining to your donation; this is the vendor.
Please move the vehicle to a safe, tow truck-accessible location, remove all personal belongings from the vehicle, and have the title ready at the time of the pickup (unless otherwise directed). The tow operator will pick up the title, keys, and vehicle. Please wait to mark the title; the tow vendor will assist you in signing the title. In most cases, the tow operator will also provide a donation receipt. Should you not receive a receipt, please give our Donor Support Team a call and we will send one to you.
A title is a document that proves legal ownership of the donated vehicle. This is provided by your state’s local motor vehicle division or DMV.
Vehicle donations considered accessible for safe towing are typically parked in the front driveway, in front of the home or apartment building, or on the street and without any other vehicles or other items blocking the intended donation. Tow operators typically cannot access areas that do not have a direct path to the vehicle (e.g. backyards, back alleyways, underground structures, etc).
After Donation
Depending on the registered state of the vehicle, the next step after your donated vehicle is picked up is to notify the state about your recent vehicle donation and that you are no longer in possession of the vehicle. Please only notify your state AFTER the vehicle has been picked up. Click here to learn the steps required for notifying your state that you’ve donated your vehicle.
State notification releases a donor from liability over the vehicle, including registration fees and from having to keep the vehicle insured. State notification is a way for the state to create a record that the owner is no longer in possession of the vehicle. The specific steps needed to release your liability of a donated vehicle vary by state. Depending on the state, this step may require surrendering your license plates, cancelling your registration, or submitting a report of sale or notice of transfer. State notification should be completed BEFORE cancelling your insurance.
If state notification is required, you should notify your local Motor Vehicle Division or DMV to complete the donation process.
Only cancel your vehicle’s insurance AFTER you have notified the state that you’ve donated your vehicle. If your state requires notification, please be aware that you should NEVER cancel your insurance prior to reporting to the state that you are no longer in possession of the vehicle.
The title transfer is different in each state. Our vehicle donation program and our vendors/auction yards will help you take the correct steps to ensure that your title paperwork is transferred correctly at the time of your vehicle pick-up.
A title is a document that proves legal ownership of the donated vehicle. This is provided by your state’s local motor vehicle division or DMV.
Please wait to mark the title until after you have discussed it with the tow vendor as they will assist you in showing you the correct location in which to sign the title.
The purchaser of your donated vehicle is not IIBA (the non-profit/charity). It will either be the car vendor or the program that we partner with to facilitate the donation process, CARS (Charitable Adult Rides & Services).
CARS is available seven days a week to answer questions and update you on the status of your donated vehicle. Please call 855-500-RIDE (7433) or email donorsupport@careasy.org.
Yes! Once your vehicle sells, CARS’ Vehicle Donor Support Team will either email and/or mail a thank-you letter on behalf of IIBA, which serves as a copy of your tax receipt. Please note that if your vehicle sells for more than $500 and your tax identification number has been provided, an IRS Form 1098-C, ‘Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes’, will be mailed to you within 30 days of the sale stating the amount of gross proceeds received from your donation.
The car donation program that we partner with, CARS, works with more than 400 vendors throughout the country to sell vehicles. Every donation is personally reviewed to determine the most effective sales process. In most markets, CARS has the flexibility of multiple sales outlets to route vehicles to the right buyer. Vehicles may be sold through the auction, to a private buyer, or to a salvage yard. CARS’ expansive network of vendors allows them to be more competitive with your inventory as well as leverage their volume to increase prices, providing IIBA with maximum returns and maximizing your tax benefit!
The entire sale process can take approximately 4 to 12 weeks. However, there are times the sale process can exceed 12 weeks. This occurs if CARS is holding onto the vehicle for a better sales price, etc.
Tax Benefits
Absolutely! Vehicle donations are tax-deductible. Individual tax situations vary. For specific tax-related questions, please consult your tax advisor or refer to IRS Publication 4303.
Most vehicles are sold through local wholesale auctions, and CARS works to get the highest return per vehicle for IIBA. According to the IRS Guidelines, donors may claim fair market value for their vehicle donation up to the actual sale value. If a vehicle is sold for more than $500, the maximum amount of your deduction will be the sales price of the vehicle which will be listed on your IRS Form 1098-C.
The “fair market value” of a vehicle is the price that you could sell it for in its current condition to another individual, willing seller, and willing buyer, and it represents the cash that you give up to make the donation. A convenient source of this information is the private party sale value as shown in online valuation guides such as Kelley Blue Book.
In most cases, donors will receive an initial donation receipt from the tow driver at the time of the vehicle pick-up. This initial acknowledgment will indicate the donor’s name as well as the year, make, model, and condition of the donated vehicle. Should you not receive a receipt, please give our donor support team a call and we will get one out to you. Donors will also be mailed a thank-you letter on behalf of IIBA within 30 days of the sale of the vehicle, which serves as a tax receipt. This will be the donor’s final tax document if their vehicle sells for $500 or less. If the vehicle sells for more than $500 and the donor has provided their tax identification number, CARS will also mail an IRS Form 1098-C, ‘Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes’, to the donor within 30 days of the sale stating the amount of gross proceeds received from their donation.
If you did not receive an initial donation receipt from your tow driver at the time of the vehicle pick-up, please call CARS at 855-500-RIDE during regular hours of operation or email donorsupport@careasy.org, and they will gladly send you a copy of your donation/tax receipt.
Yes! As long as you submit your donation form by December 31st for a vehicle with a clear title, you could qualify to receive a tax deduction for the same tax year.
Here is a list of resources where you can find additional IRS tax deduction requirements for charitable car donations:
• IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions
• IRS Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property
• IRS Publication 4303, A Donor’s Guide to Vehicle Donations
• IRS Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions
• IRS Instructions for Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions
CARS gives donors until the very last minute (11:59 pm, 12/31) to contact them and pledge their vehicle donation to IIBA, so they can have an opportunity to count it as a charitable contribution for the same year. The donation is time-stamped from the day that the donor calls in and provides their personal/donation information. For instance, your donation receipt would reflect December 31st even if the pick-up was scheduled sometime in January.
Information sourced from careasy.org