Donations Tax Deductible Question

[scissorbill]

I've got a decent stockpile for my family now and I'm going to start doing more donating. I usually drop my excess items off at the store's food pantry bin but now I'm thinking I would like to get credit for these donations on my taxes. What do you all do? Save receipts and just mark what you dropped off or do you get a receipt from the food pantry or both? I realize it's probably unethical to get more than $1 credit for a box of cereal I paid $1 for but on the other hand I used my gas, time, coupons and it also offsets the fact that I'm losing that, say $3 potential from my personal budget. Thanks.

[firemomma1]

i have been itemizing for years on my taxes and saving a bundle. how you itemize...there is some definite wiggle room i feel. you can take the dollar you paid for sure, you could take the expense it took you to get the coupons; trading costs or cost of the newspaper you bought, you can take the cost of the trip to each store to purchase the items, as well as miles to drop it off at the charity. be aware though that writing off miles from your trip to purchase the item...the trip should be primarily for the purpose of purchasing those items for charity. if i am buying items i KNOW will go to charity, i get a separate receipt, then i can write off my miles to get there and not have the miles challenged if ever audited.

despite that it is very valuable...you don't get to write off your time or the potential loss from your budget.

hope this helps!