Instructions about Form 8283 for non-cash donation claims seem contradictory and confusing

The Form 8283 instructions can definitely be confusing! Let me help clarify this for you. Since your non-cash donations exceed $500 (you mentioned about $650), you do need to file Form 8283 with your tax return. For Section A (which is what you'll use since your items are valued under $5,000 each), you don't need to list each individual trip to Goodwill separately. Instead, you can group similar items together by category - like "clothing," "household items," "furniture," etc. For each category, you'll need to provide: - A description of the donated property - The approximate date you acquired the property - How you acquired it (purchase, gift, inheritance) - The fair market value on the date of donation - Your cost or basis in the property The apparent contradiction you're seeing might be because the 1040 instructions are telling you when you need to file the form (over $500 total), while the Form 8283 instructions are explaining how to complete the form once you know you need it.

After spending weeks trying to figure out these exact same Form 8283 instructions for my donations, I finally found something that actually helped. I used this tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that analyzed my donation receipts and explained exactly how to fill out the form properly. It showed me how to group my items correctly on the form and explained which sections I needed to complete for my situation. What was really helpful is that it walked me through the "fair market value" part, which I was totally guessing at before. It also cleared up the confusion between what the 1040 instructions say versus the actual Form 8283 instructions. I'm not usually one to recommend tax tools, but this one actually made sense of the contradictory instructions and showed me exactly what to do with my Goodwill donations.

I was super skeptical about using taxr.ai like I mentioned above, but I finally gave it a try yesterday out of desperation (midnight before I wanted to file). I have to admit it actually worked really well for my Form 8283 confusion. I uploaded my messy pile of donation receipts and it sorted everything out by category automatically. What surprised me most was how it explained the different thresholds and requirements in plain English that made way more sense than the IRS instructions. It showed exactly why the instructions seemed contradictory and how to properly complete the form despite that confusion. For anyone else confused about Form 8283, it's worth checking out. Saved me hours of frustration and probably prevented me from making mistakes that could have triggered an audit.

If you're still struggling with Form 8283 and need to talk to someone at the IRS directly (which I eventually had to do), good luck getting through to them on the phone! I spent 3 days trying before I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). They have this service that somehow gets you through the IRS phone queue. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was pretty desperate after my tax software couldn't help with my specific donation situation, and I needed clarification on exactly how to handle multiple donations to different charities on the same form. Within about 30 minutes of using Claimyr, I was talking to an actual IRS agent who walked me through the exact way to fill out my Form 8283 correctly. Never thought I'd get through to a real human at the IRS during tax season, but this actually worked when nothing else did.

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After calling the IRS 6 times and getting nowhere about my Form 8283 questions, I reluctantly tried the Claimyr service I was skeptical about. Within 45 minutes I was actually talking to an IRS agent who explained exactly how to handle my donation documentation. The agent confirmed that I could group similar items together on Form 8283 Section A, and clarified that the "date acquired" can be approximated for collections of items acquired over time. She also explained why the instructions seem contradictory - the 1040 instructions tell you when you need the form, while the 8283 instructions tell you how to fill it out once you know you need it. Would have spent another week trying to get through on my own. For anyone struggling with Form 8283 and needing official clarification, having someone hold your place in the IRS queue is absolutely worth it.

For what it's worth, I've been dealing with Form 8283 for years because I donate a lot to charity. Here's my simple approach that's never been questioned in an audit: 1. Keep all your donation receipts 2. Group similar items by category on the form (clothes, electronics, furniture) 3. Use the Salvation Army or Goodwill valuation guides for fair market value estimates 4. For date acquired, using "Various" is fine for collections of items 5. For method acquired, "Purchase" is usually appropriate for most personal items The form looks more complicated than it really is. The key is having documentation of the donations and reasonable valuations.

I'm wondering if anyone has used TurboTax for handling Form 8283? I'm in the same boat with about $700 in donations to Goodwill and wondering if the software handles this well or if I should do it manually?

I've been dealing with Form 8283 for my charitable donations this year too, and I completely understand your frustration! The instructions really are confusing and seem to contradict each other in different sections. One thing that helped me was realizing that you don't need to be overly detailed in Section A. For your $650 in Goodwill donations, you can absolutely group similar items together - something like "Assorted clothing - shirts, pants, jackets" as one line item, "Household items - kitchenware, linens, small appliances" as another, and "Furniture" as a third category. The key is keeping your receipts and having a reasonable method for determining fair market value. I used the Goodwill valuation guide online, which gives suggested values for common donated items. For dates acquired, I just used "Various 2020-2023" for clothing I'd accumulated over time. Don't let this form stress you out too much - it's more straightforward than it initially appears once you understand you can group items by category rather than listing everything individually. The IRS just wants to see that you have documentation and reasonable valuations for your donations.