If you donate from your stockpile is it tax deductible?

We had a question from one of our readers – If you donate from your stockpile is it tax deductible?  With tax season upon us I thought this would be a great question to share on the blog.

Question – If you donate from your stockpile, I assume it is tax deductible if given to a charity and you have a receipt.  Like if you give cans of corn to the food pantry.  When you do taxes, do you use the retail price on the shelf (which you know you didn’t pay full price!) as the amount you donated, or the sale price you paid?

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Answer:  When donating an item from your stockpile you can deduct the FULL retail price.  You don’t have to factor in the sale price matched with a coupon.  A great example is when you donate items that you got for free.  I have been donating from my stockpile since 2009 and when I donate I claim the full retail price.  Items that I have donated include: Tampons, Pads, Depends, Toilet Paper, Toothbrushes, Floss, Cereal, Canned Goods.

You don’t need to keep your receipt from purchase but instead you need to keep the receipt provided when you donate.  This is normally a form where you write in the total from the donation.  It is important that you don’t just list a total, instead you need to list an itemized list broken down with price for each.  In addition we always take a picture of our donation and print off to include with our receipt.   We have a monthly donation that we make so that we don’t waste our stockpiled items.

It is really important to Inventory Your Stockpile.  I go through my stockpile on the 15th of each month and decide what I should donate and what I should keep.  At every class, someone will ask the question “What do you do with all that stuff and how can you possibly use it?” The answer is quite simple, if I can’t use it by expiration then someone else will. I love to help people anyway and this is a great way that doesn’t have to cost a lot out of my budget plus I can get a tax write off!

I also choose too donate when things are FREE!  For example, I may buy dog food and treats when they are FREE and donate them to the animal shelter.

Who can you give it to? You can go to Feeding America and find a Food Bank by you.   There also may be a cause close to your heart that can also benefit! Look for an organization in your area.

Disclaimer:  I am not an accountant and we are not providing legal advice.

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