Donating boat?

[duped]

Has anyone ever done this here? In particular, someone in WI maybe? I'm curious about the experience, the tax deductions etc. I have a 21 foot cabin cruiser thats just been sitting since I bought my sea ray. The drive is blown, I had nothing but bad experiences with it, I have no idea of its value, and its sitting on someone elses property. I think Id feel a whole lot better if I just got rid of it. But rather than sell it for a song I think it would be great to donate it to a good cause. Opinions? Experiences?

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Donating boat?

My local kidney foundation takes most anything like that I'm told. I have no idea what you could declare taxwise tho.

 

[KermieB]

Re: Donating boat?

If you talking about the BoatAngel Project, I'm gonna tell you yes. I watched BoatAngel for about two months last year looking for a ski boat that was close enough for me to go get, and in good enough shape to become a decent project. This was to be my first boat, and we had decided to see if we were "Boat People" before we even thought about spending a ton of money. Most of the boats that were being auctioned were just junk that someone wanted out of his yard, but on occasion a really good buy comes across. In my case, I got really lucky. In all cases, SOMEBODY wants the boat and buys it.

I ended up buying a '90 Sea Ray 180 bowrider and trailer. You don't get to talk to the donor until after you have purchased the boat, so you have to rely on a description that the donor has submitted. I paid $1,500 plus the $189 processing fee for a boat that appeared to be in really good shape for an older boat, but by the owner's description, "didn't run". My wife and I drove the 330 miles to pick the boat up and got a great recap of it's history from the donor.

I was just the second owner. He said the boat was "running when it quit" meaning it had failed to restart after being on the water for a couple of hours. His mechanic told him it would be roughly $4k to get the boat back into really reliable shape. I had it running in 4 hours and for $0, (it was a corroded wire on the starter) and we have invested about $300 in the mechanics of the boat (impeller, steering cable, starter, bellows) and another $500 for carpet and upholstery that my wife and I rebuilt over the winter. We have had more fun with this boat than I could have imagined. We are hooked on boating.

A boat that was sitting in storage doing no good.....
1.) Gave the donor a write off
2.) Gave the BoatAngel a donation of $1,689
3.) Got me started boating for life.

Donate your boat!!!

 

[KermieB]

Re: Donating boat?

BTW, I've painted the trailer black and stripped all of the teal green vinyl stripes off of the boat and have it ready to paint after this weekends' fun on the lake. I'm painting the above water black.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Donating boat?

Vietnam veterans association will take vehicles on donation. I had an 86 Honda Shadow motorcycle a while back which had title problems (bought it at an estate auction, issues with deceased owner). I decided it wasn't worth the hassle, and donated it to VVA with no problem. They told me they would fix it up, title it, and sell it for profit. Might be another to look into.

 

[security6]

Re: Donating boat?

Donate it if you want, but don't expect much of a tax writeoff. The IRS stopped that gravytrain a few year ago. Now you can only writeoff the amount that the vehicle actually sells for.

Read more here: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=131660,00.html

Talk to a tax specialist if you have questions.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Donating boat?

I'm unsure what kind of donation and if they differe, but the gentleman I purchased my boat from tried to donate it. He wanted the boat off his property, and thought donation would be a good bet. The boat was surveyed (I believe by the donation company) and they gave an agreed upon value (which I assume was the amount in write off he would receive). The issue that stopped him from completing the donation, was the timeline. This particular donation organization indicated the boat must remain on the property until they were ready to "charter" it. They said it could be 2 days, 2 months or 2 years.

The BoatAngel donation sounds good though, and I looked into it a few years back. Never went through with it, and gave the boat away free, but it seems to be a great charity.

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Donating boat?

I did this last year with my 93 i/o with a cracked block and WOW was it headache free getting rid of it. There are plenty of vehicle donation companys that take boats. Just call them up. I donated mine via the American Cancer Society. The key here is to make sure they are a recognized charity where you can take the deduction. The Cancer Society picked the boat up and issued me the correct tax form. They sold the boat at auction for $1500 and that was the amount on the year end form and the amount I deducted. If you have a recognized charitable organization and get the correct tax form and file it correctly there is absolutely no issue.

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Donating boat?

Oh - by the way.....make sure you have the title for the boat. they will not take without title

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Donating boat?

Be fair to the charities; don't dump junk on them. They incur costs to deal with your boat.

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Donating boat?

Duped,

I have donated a few cars to Espiranza Unida in Milwaukee, and it went just fine. Deduction, at the time , was great, but not so much anymore. Rawhide Boys Ranch takes boats and is a good organization. They took one of my old pos boats with little fuss. Contact them for the real skinny on procedure. I did, and was pleased with the transaction. No audit from any donation, ever...

Here is an article for you----
http://www.onlinecardonation.org/charity-news/car-donation-economy.htm

 

[180Fisherman]

Re: Donating boat?

The tax rules have changed. Your deduction is whatever the charity sells it for not some upfront agreed upon price.

Why don't you put it up on craigslist with the caption "just needs a little TLC"

 

[73Trihull]

Re: Donating boat?

I just had a great experience with Rawhide. I had a '78 Lund with a Merc 470 in it. I finally had enough fixing of the 470 so I donated to Rawhide. They make the process about as easy as it can be. There is an online form to complete and then you find a drop off location that are all across the state. Basically, you have two choices when donating as far as tax deductions either you take a donation value of $500 or you can wait to find out what they sell it for and claim that amount for your deduction. I chose the $500 value option. It was a very easy process and I would encourage you to use them. Now from the buyers perspective. While donating the other boat I found a great old trihull that just called my name. All the sales are done via ebay. They have plenty of pictures posted and a long condition checklist so you know exactly what you're bidding on.
Take a look at them and consider donating. I cant say enough good things about them.
http://www.rawhide.org/home/home.aspx

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Donating boat?

I bought my Starcraft from the boys ranch for $500, cracked block so a Chevy Nova donated a good straight six for $100 and it ran great all last summer.
I'm finishing up painting the whole boat today and a new interior all done by myself, heckuva lotta work but it sure feels like its mine now.
Painted the trailer lat 4th of July while the boat was slipped for fireworks viewing.
The boat looks so much better now. Love that Interlux.

I had a good experience with Rawhide, thety got a lot of boats sitting up there. Mostly junk as mentioned.