Nevermind, I found it:

"The 50% limit applies to the total of all charitable
contributions you make during the year.
This means that your deduction for charitable
contributions cannot be more than 50% of
your adjusted gross income for the year."

So if your adjusted gross income is $20,000 then you can only deduct 50% of that ($10,000) for charitable contributions in one year. If you have more than that in a given year you can carry it over to the next year.

 

I work with the planned giving departments of a couple of charities and can tell you, based on that I've learned, that not all organizations are going to want the car. The car won't feed people or animals unless it's sold and they will face the same problems you would have if they try to sell it for the cash. Look for a qualified charity (so you get your deduction) that can actually use it--such as Kidney Cars. (BTW, I'm not endorsing them as I know nothing about them other than that they want donated cars.)

I helped an individual donate a car from his aunt's estate to his church, which in turn gave it to a single mother in the community who had no car. Just an idea, but I'm sure there's a family out there that would love to have it--even if it is small.

Whatever you do, for giving to charity.

 

hmm so i'm better off selling a $3k car for $1k than donating it?

 

if you mean that KBB Private Party Value (PPV) = $3000 and you think you can get more for it than $1000, then it seems to me that selling it is a better option but I could be mistaken.

I'm having second thoughts about donating it since the KBB PPV is between $1200 (fair) and $1500 (good). Since that means that I'll probably get only $400 - $500 tax credit, if I sell the car for more than $500 (which I'm certain I can), then it seems to me that it's worth it to just sell...?

Also, the standard deduction for a single person is $4750. That means to even make it worth my while to donate this car, I'm guessing I'll need another $3250 worth of deductions in the last year to make it worthwhile to itemize my deductions. I've made some charitable contributions (few hundred $), and also have some other small items I can write-off, but I'm not certain it'll reach the $3250 I'll need to make it worthwhile. ($4750 standard deduction minus $1500 KBB for the car) Am I missing something??