Thank you for your reply. Since the cabinets were part of the home when I bought the home, I do not have a purchase price of the items...How do I indicate this on form 8283? I also do not know exactly when the cabinets were purchased and installed...can I estimate this? I assume that I have to therefore estimate the fair market value based on these assumptions above. Thanks!

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Replying to:

If you make a non-cash contribution to a charitable organization, and the value of the donation exceeds $500, you're required to complete and attach a form 8283 to your tax return. On that form you'll write down the name of the charity, a description of the items donated, when the goods were acquired, how much you paid for the goods, and their fair market value as of the date of the donation.



If the value of the gift exceeds $5,000, you need to include a written appraisal with your tax return. Since your gift was valued at only $2,000 therefore, no appraisal was necessary.



You will claim the fair value of the goods that you donate to a charity as an itemized deduction. That means that the tax savings to you is the value of the gift multiplied by your marginal tax rate, assuming that your allowable deductions already exceed the standard deduction.



Finally, all taxpayers must reduce their itemized deductions, once their adjusted gross income exceeds $137,300 (in 2002). The amount of the reduction is equal to 3% of the excess. So if your AGI is $237,300, you would be required to reduce your itemized deductions by $3,000 (.03*($237,300 - $137,300). It's important to note that the reduction is not a percentage of your itemized deduction, but is a fixed amount based on your AGI.

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Replying to:

I recently donated kitchen cabinets to a charitable organization which were estimated to be valued at approximately $2000. If a contribution is more than $500, my understanding is that we have to fill out a form 8283. Is there an official appraisal for the value of the items needed for this form? Does this deduction go down as an itemized deduction? Is there is limit to itemized deductions that one can take in a tax year (I heard that it might be 3%)?

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