Form 8283 Requirements for Multiple Non-Cash Charity Donations - Appraisal Questions

The appraisal requirements for Form 8283 depend on the value of each individual item, not the total donation amount. Here's what you need to know: For items valued under $250: Keep your own records of donation (date, place, description, value). For items valued between $250-$500: You need a written acknowledgment from the charity. For items valued between $500-$5,000: You must complete Section A of Form 8283 and attach it to your return. No formal appraisal is required, but you should have good documentation of value (receipts, comparable sales, etc). For items valued over $5,000: You must complete Section B of Form 8283 AND get a qualified appraisal. The appraiser must sign your Form 8283. Since your items are between $15-$1,300, you won't need a formal appraisal for any individual item. Just good documentation and Section A of Form 8283 for items over $500.

After struggling with a similar situation last year (donated my mom's estate items), I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me so much headache with donations documentation. It actually helps organize your non-cash donations and tracks everything for Form 8283. You can upload photos of items and it helps determine fair market values based on condition and similar items. The best part was it knew exactly which parts of Form 8283 I needed to complete based on the value thresholds. Made the whole process way less stressful than when I was trying to figure it out on my own!

Ok I have to admit I was totally wrong about taxr.ai. I tried it for my donations this year (about 200 items from cleaning out my parents' house) and it was WAY better than what TurboTax offers. The photo documentation feature alone saved me hours of typing descriptions, and it actually gave reasonable value estimates that were conservative enough I felt confident using them. The best part was when it sorted everything by value threshold and told me exactly which documentation I needed for each group. Showed me I only needed full appraisals for two antique items, saving me hundreds in unnecessary appraisal fees. Just wanted to follow up since my initial skepticism was completely unfounded!

If you're making multiple donations throughout the year and need to contact the IRS about Form 8283 questions (which I ended up having to do), use Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was on hold with the IRS for HOURS trying to get clarity on some appraisal requirements before discovering this service. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Basically they call the IRS for you and then call you back when an agent is on the line. Saved me literally 3+ hours of hold time when I needed to verify some requirements for my art donations. The IRS agent I spoke with was actually super helpful once I finally got through.

I need to apologize for calling BS on Claimyr. I was so frustrated after wasting an entire afternoon on hold with the IRS about my donation questions that I decided to try it out of desperation. It actually works EXACTLY as described. I put in my number, they called the IRS, and about 50 minutes later (while I was making dinner instead of listening to hold music), my phone rang and I was connected to an IRS representative. No scam, no weird stuff, just saved me from hold-time hell. The agent answered my Form 8283 questions about similar items grouping in about 5 minutes. Wish I'd known about this sooner!

Something I haven't seen mentioned here yet - if you're donating a lot of similar items (clothes, books, kitchen items, etc.), consider using the Salvation Army donation value guide. It's widely accepted by the IRS as reasonable valuation and makes things much simpler than trying to value each item individually. Google "Salvation Army donation value guide 2025" and you'll find their PDF with standard values. Super helpful for bulk donations!

I did this last year - donated about 300 items after downsizing. My advice is to create a spreadsheet NOW before you start donating. Column headings: Date donated, Charity name/address, Item description, Condition, Original cost, FMV, and Photo reference number. Take photos of EVERYTHING in groups (like "10 men's shirts" can be one photo). Number your photos to match your spreadsheet. Trust me, trying to reconstruct this at tax time is a nightmare.

Just want to add one more thing that helped me a lot - keep a running tally of your donations by charity as you go. The IRS gets suspicious if you claim massive deductions to obscure charities, but spreading $40k across well-known organizations like Goodwill, Salvation Army, local food banks, etc. looks much more legitimate. Also, make sure you're getting proper receipts from each charity with their tax ID number. Some smaller organizations are terrible about this, and without a proper receipt showing they're a qualified 501(c)(3), your deduction could get disallowed entirely. I learned this the hard way when one of my donations got questioned because the charity's receipt was just a handwritten note without their EIN. One last tip - if any of your items are unusual or potentially valuable (artwork, antiques, jewelry), consider getting a quick informal appraisal even if they're under $5,000. It shows good faith effort at accurate valuation and can save headaches later.