I received an receipt from KD that the cabinet and counters that I donated had a value of 7,800. This will be used as a tax credit towards our 2013 taxes. My cabinets were a yellow oak but in excellent condition. If your contractor is going to re-use the cabinets he should make sure that he gives you something in writing, otherwise he may be donating the items and getting the tax write off for himself.

I never even though of donating the items. That seems to be an easy solution rather than waiting for a buyer if I go that route.

When you say if the contractor is going to re-use then get something in writing, does that mean for tax reasons or for general remodel credit on the job?

Island I'm thinking is worth $400? 4x6 Marble top to dark wood cabinets with seating for four. Marble has a few circle stains from hot pans it looks like. Is that a good ballpark on price?

This post was edited by aly1331 on Wed, Jul 10, 13 at 22:56

That looks more like an "after" kitchen than a "before". I'd recommend analyzing if you could do just a refresher rather than a rip out and redo.

However, if you would be OK with the cabinets being demolished, then whether or not the contractor takes them and reuses them or sells them is irrelevant. It has no value to you. Let him have them.

Or, donate them to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. Some areas have volunteers who will remove the cabinets while others want them removed and transported to their store. If you live in one of the latter locations, it may cost you additional labor for the cabinet removal by the contractor because he has to be much more careful than if they were just going to the dump.

$7,800 value for older cabinets would be "replacement value" for most oak kitchens. It would not be "resale value" which is what it would sell for on the open market. That would mostly likely be 1/4 of that. Or less.

I have no idea Hollysprings what the value would be as far as what someone was willing to pay. It was actually a custom kitchen not builder's grade and the tax receipt the KD wrote for me was his estimate of their value to purchase. If the layout had been better I would have done a refresh rather than a reno but geesh I was sick to death of oak especially golden oak.

Donating them to the Habitat for Humanity Restore (or similar place) is an excellent idea. They will give you a receipt for the items which you will need at tax time.

Setting the appropriate value for tax purposes is tricky, There may be some info on line that will help, I know there are some standards (perhaps published by the IRS) for the donation of clothing items. It's generally not very much per item.

However, whatever value you put on them does not give you a tax credit, it gives an item that may be used as a charitable deduction if you itemize. In other words the amount it lowers your taxes is limited to your tax rate times the stated value of the item.

Completely made up example: suppose you set a value of the donation at $1,000 and also suppose you pay a tax rate of 20% on your income. Then the donation would reduce your taxable income by $1.000 and you would then save $200 on what you would otherwise have owed.

Tax credits (which this is not), on the other hand, would not reduce your income, but would allow you to subtract the full amount of the value of a tax credit from your tax bill. Big difference!

This applies to all charitable donations (and many other things too - interest on your mortgage is another common one) which are calculated so as to reduce your taxable income, but not applied to the taxes you owe after all the calculations are done.

HTH

L.

If you would rather him demolish it, why are you being penerious and trying to get something out of it? Give it to someone who will use it.

Or, as was mentioned, get H4H to come get it. They'd take it out through your fence. You can specify to your contractor that he repair any damage to your fence, but not H4H.

I, too, would look at a refresh rather than replace. What's the point of replacing everything in great condition? Save yourself some $$ in that direction and get all the lovely finishes you would probably like.

Yeah, let him have it, or donate it to h4h or a similar group.

If it's not just demolished, whoever takes it should agree in advance to repair any damage that causes to the fence or anything else that's in the way. That should go without saying, but it can't hurt to be explicit.

Laura

We were asked to "donate" our countertops to one of the workers who was rehabbing a home for some "charitable" cause. Turns out he was rehabbing a home (an inheritance from his deceased mother) for his daughter who had just graduated from college and was trying to find a job. We were donating most of our kitchen to H4H (and taking the tax savings), but decided to give the countertops to the worker. He was a nice guy who actually solved a lot of problems that we'd had in the kitchen for 20+ years (and others couldn't fix). We also wound up donating our sxs working frig/freezer to him too.

He was such a nice guy and a great worker (who was training his son on our job too), we felt really good about it, and hope it was helpful to his daughter. Luckily we didn't really need the tax write-off.

If you're donating, I would just make sure that the GC can remove the island at his own expense and leave your home (and fence) in the same condition he found it.

I understand your dilemmas. You hate the layout and want it changed. Then I say change it.

Secondly, if you give it to your contractor, you're worried what if your fence gets ruined or not repaired properly.. I would put all that in writing and specify damages paid if not done correctly. See if he still wants the island if he has to fix the fence.

I think you should call Habitat to see if they will take the cabinets. I glanced on Craig's list and saw whole kitchen cabinets going for $1200. I don't know the quality of them. Also, just because it is listed at that doesn't mean that there is a buyer. Cabinets have to fit and match. Regarding my old cabinets, I am going to ask if they'll take it but some of the drawers look broken and two KDs said they were cheap cabinets. I'm going to post the island to see if anyone will bite between now and the demo but the contractor said islands were tough, especially since I had a range built in. Then it requires a buyer who is willing to pay to have the gas lined up in addition to one who has a kitchen that can fit it.

Good luck!

Thank you for all your suggestions! I read through everything and evaluated everything. After thinking it over the holiday I realized my main constraint is time and the island cannot be worked around while I wait to get it donated since I don't have any free space for it to sit. The workers are back tomorrow and I can't wait around. I think the right course of action for my project is to ask the contractor to agree to repair the fence and have him take it with the cabinets and keep this project moving along quickly. Thank you again and I wish I had known all about donating items before starting but I guess you live and learn. I'm sure I'll hit more serious problems during this reno to really focus on. Thank you everyone you're a wonderful resource.

I recently bought a bath vanity off Craigslist from a contractor who told me that it came from a job that he was working on. I am quite certain that he was not selling it for the homeowner, but that it was a sideline for his own profit. Think about it. Before you knew you could sell your used construction materials, or get a tax write-off, what do you think happened to them? I think that we are just being more conscious of things like this these days.

that is a BEFORE kitchen???? why are you remodeling?

" I am quite certain that he was not selling it for the homeowner, but that it was a sideline for his own profit."

A guy i know owns rental homes, commercial property and often buys a place to have fixed up and resell. He deals with contractors all the time. One project he showed me he used cabinets from a multimillion $ home up in Scottsdale. He got a 'great deal' on them from a contractor friend of his who was redoing the kitchen in that home.

I know you have already decided what to do but for anyone else donating items I do have some advice. Unless your KD puts a value on the receipt you get for tax purposes, let your CPA help value the items donated (and get a receipt!). When people value their own donated items it is usually undervalued for tax purposes.

A kitchen in good shape that is donated could give you a LARGE tax deduction.

This post was edited by SLTKota on Sat, Jul 6, 13 at 16:38

For all the high charges, nickle and diming, shortcuts (that affect quality), etc that contractors do, I would want their taking nice cabinetry/marble to be part of the deal. Those have significant value. No way in Hades would they be "giving" things away to us like that. We would be charged, as much as possible, if things were reversed.

Donating to Habitat or another charity is a great idea with probably the most profitable outcome overall.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Sun, Jul 7, 13 at 11:12