Correct.
bigplayrayr said:
I have been to auctions for charity before. Usually the item for Auction will have a retail value assigned to it. The amount the auction goes above that is legal for tax deduction. If the guy paid 650k for the car, he could probably deduct 600k as a donation, if the car was given a retail value of 50k.
My father bought a lawn tractor last year at a Children's Hospital auction in Jacksonville. Retail value was assigned at $1500.00. Well, it was a charity my mom does a lot of work for, so my Dad really wanted to show his support at this auction, but the tractor was the only thing they had that he wanted. He figured he'd spend $2000-2500 for it, get a new tractor, and make Mom happy.
Well, one of the Jacksonville Jaguars (I believe he said it was Donovan Darius, who's out injured this season) had taken a shine to it as well. They got into a bidding war, and before Dad knew it the tractor was at $5000.00. He was about to give up, because charity or not, he couldn't pay that for a tractor in good conscience. Dad makes good money, but he's not in the same league as a player in the NFL! Just as he started to stop bidding, his accountant walked over and told him he could get reimbursed for everything over retail, so he went nuts. Apparently Darius' accountant never told him that, so he stopped bidding at $12,000.
Yep, that's right. $12,000. My Mom about flipped until Russ (the accountant) told her they'd get it all back. Still, it was funny watching her for the few minutes before she knew.
