Goodwill Donation Receipt: Make the Most of Your Donations

Donating to Goodwill is a great way to give back to your community and receive a tax-deductible donation. When you donate items like clothing, furniture, and household goods, you receive a donation receipt that serves as proof of your tax-deductible donation. 

Knowing how to use this receipt is key to maximizing your tax deductions and keeping your records straight.

What information is included on the receipt?

The receipt will have the following information:

• Items donated

• Date of donation

• Fair market value

• Goods or services

How do you claim a tax deduction with your receipt?

You’ll use your receipt to claim a tax deduction for your donated items. The IRS allows you to deduct the fair market value of the items donated from your taxes, reducing your tax bill.

Here’s how to use your receipt:

1. You can deduct the market value of your donation. This is what a willing buyer would pay for the items in their current condition.

2. Federal law requires you to attach a value to each item donated. This ensures your tax deduction is accurate and compliant with IRS guidelines.

3. Write the date of your donation in mm slash dd format on your receipt. This meets federal law requirements.

4. Items like clothing and furniture must be in good used condition or better to qualify for a tax deduction. The IRS doesn’t allow deductions for items in poor condition unless they are valued at over $500 and accompanied by a qualified appraisal.

How do I get the most out of the donation?

In my experience, to get the most tax benefit from your donations, you will need to do the following:

1. Use a receipt/donation tracker to keep track of your donations throughout the year. This will ensure all your donations are accounted for when you file your taxes.

2. List the items you donate, including the number of boxes or bags. This level of detail is required for valuation and for supporting your tax deduction.

3. Use the Goodwill market value guide to determine the value of your donations. This guide has estimated values for everyday items.

4. To maximize your donation, donate new or gently used items. Higher-quality items have higher market values, so you’ll get a bigger tax deduction.

5. Keep your financial information and donation receipts organized and up to date. This will make tax time a breeze and avoid any issues with the IRS.

How can Shoeboxed help?

Shoeboxed is a lifesaver for anyone looking to manage their donation receipts. By digitizing your receipts, Shoeboxed makes it easy to store, organize, and access when needed.

Here’s how Shoeboxed can help with donation tracking:

Receipt scanning

Shoeboxed has several ways to scan and digitize donation receipts.

Mobile app

Use the Shoeboxed mobile app to scan and digitize your receipts. No more physical storage and no risk of lost receipts.

The Shoeboxed mobile app makes scanning receipts easy. With the quick capture feature, you can open the app on your smartphone and take a photo of the receipt, and the app will process it for you.

Desktop upload

For users who have digital receipts or scanned images of receipts on their computer, Shoeboxed has a drag-and-drop feature:

You can drag and drop digital receipt files into your Shoeboxed account using the web platform. The system will process and categorize these receipts like those scanned via the mobile app.

Email integration

Forward your email receipts to a designated email address, and Shoeboxed will process and store them in your account.

Shoeboxed also has a Gmail plugin for Gmail users that automatically forwards receipts from your inbox to your Shoeboxed account.

Magic Envelope service

The Magic Envelope service is for users who prefer to handle physical receipts without scanning them themselves.

Shoeboxed provides prepaid-postage Magic Envelopes for you to fill with your physical Goodwill receipts, business cards, and other financial documents.

Just fill the Magic Envelope and mail it to Shoeboxed using the pre-paid envelope. Shoeboxed takes care of the rest.

When Shoeboxed receives your Magic Envelope, their team of professionals will scan each receipt and document and human verify it.

Shoeboxed is the only receipt scanner app that will handle both your paper receipts and your digital receipts—saving customers up to 9.2 hours per week from manual data entry!

Automatic categorization

Shoeboxed uses OCR technology to extract and categorize the data just like they would with scanned or emailed receipts.

Shoeboxed will categorize your receipts into tax or custom categories, so tracking and managing your donations throughout the year is easy.

Expense reports

With Shoeboxed, you can generate detailed reports to review and prepare for tax season.

With Shoeboxed, you can store your receipts safely and easily, making it easy to donate and claim tax deductions.

Frequently asked questions

What should be included on Goodwill donation receipts?

Receipts should describe items and include the date of the donation and an estimated fair market value.

How do I determine the fair market value of my donated items?

The market value is what a willing buyer would pay for the items in their current condition. Goodwill’s guide can help you estimate the value of common items like clothing, furniture, and household goods.

In conclusion

Goodwill receipts are more than just a piece of paper—they are crucial to maximizing tax deductions. Whether donating clothing, furniture, or household goods, keep your donation receipts safe and organized for a hassle-free tax-filing experience.

Caryl Ramsey has years of experience assisting in different aspects of bookkeeping, taxes, and customer service. She uses a variety of accounting software for setting up client information, reconciling accounts, coding expenses, running financial reports, and preparing tax returns. She is also experienced in setting up corporations with the State Corporation Commission and the IRS.

About Shoeboxed!

Shoeboxed is a receipt scanning service with receipt management software that supports multiple methods for receipt capture: send, scan, upload, forward, and more!

You can stuff your receipts into one of our Magic Envelopes (prepaid postage within the US). Use our receipt tracker + receipt scanner app (iPhone, iPad, and Android) to snap a picture while on the go. Auto-import receipts from Gmail. Or forward a receipt to your designated Shoeboxed email address.

Turn your receipts into data and deductibles with our expense reports, including IRS-accepted receipt images.

Join over 1 million businesses scanning & organizing receipts, creating expense reports, and more—with Shoeboxed.

Try Shoeboxed today!