Wine on the lanai

Funny day at curbco today. I was driving to my son’s house when I saw a guy putting a sign, Free Scrap, on a pile on his lawn. I couldn’t believe it, but it was a pile of aluminum posts and cross beams from his lanai. He said he was building an outdoor kitchen, so he was dumping the old setup. As I was about loaded up, he asked if I might be interested in taking the 16 bottle Avanti wine cooler as well, so I obliged. Plugged it in at home and it works perfectly. I plan to donate it at a Habitat for Humanity retail store along with the posts and beams. More money off next year’s tax bill as the donations are deductible! A great day!

Nice score and a great idea with the donation...

Originally Posted by snorton1

Funny day at curbco today. I was driving to my son’s house when I saw a guy putting a sign, Free Scrap, on a pile on his lawn. I couldn’t believe it, but it was a pile of aluminum posts and cross beams from his lanai. He said he was building an outdoor kitchen, so he was dumping the old setup. As I was about loaded up, he asked if I might be interested in taking the 16 bottle Avanti wine cooler as well, so I obliged. Plugged it in at home and it works perfectly. I plan to donate it at a Habitat for Humanity retail store along with the posts and beams. More money off next year’s tax bill as the donations are deductible! A great day!

Nice score.

I'd double check on the taxes. With the increase in the standard deduction and the limitation on state and local tax deductions, very few people are going to be itemize thier deductions and have them exceed the standard deduction.

Originally Posted by mthomasdev

Nice score.

I'd double check on the taxes. With the increase in the standard deduction and the limitation on state and local tax deductions, very few people are going to be itemize thier deductions and have them exceed the standard deduction.

Originally Posted by HipoGear

^^^ I second that thought. Even small businesses are going to get screwed on deductions under the new tax bill. It would be worth your time to do your homework first.

Originally Posted by hobo finds

That sucks if you cant get a deduction for donating it, but if you don't want to try and sell it yourself and it is worth more than scrap and it helps others out then why not donate it?

Okay guys, just my thoughts, but....

1. Donate because you want to help, not to get a deduction.
2. If the standard deduction is already bigger than the donation amount you could claim, be happy, not bitter. They are letting you keep more of the money you earned rather than forcing you to defending a deduction so you are able to keep more of YOUR money, at the point of a gun.
3. If the money is important, scrap it or sell it and keep the money.

Never. NEVER scorn any reduction of the taxes taken from you at the point of a gun. It is YOUR money, NOT THEIRS!

That is soo kind of you for donating to a good cause. Awesome. I like you and I haven"t even met you. We are collectors and we make money off of scrap. Some people even look at us in a unfavorable way. When I tell them I also collect clothes for charity. (big brothers and big sisters) and slightly used building equipment. (habitat for humanity). It softens there hearts. It makes me happy to help people and our environment and is my driving force. Thanks for that post it was very encouraging to hear.

Just an update. My deduction will come to my personal tax bill, not the business one. I certainly enjoy giving usable items to the Habitat for Humanity store as several of my students have benefitted from help given by the organization following Florida’s storm season. I also repair and give away bikes to local kids.