- Report: #834740
Complaint Review: Cars to help Kids - Internet
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Cars to help Kids
Internet, United States of America
Phone:
888-990- 4KID (543)
Web:
www.carstohelpkids.org
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Cars to help Kids IRS has no record of charity - false advertising Internet
Last April I donated a vehicle to Cars To Help Kids. I found the organization through a mailer. The mailer and phone number for the organization is led me to believe it was Kars for Kids that I was dealing with.
The website had 501C3 seals on it and I thought I was doing a good thing and getting a tax write off.
The donation exchange went relatively easy, especially since I was out of town on business with a hissy landlord freaking out because I had two vehicles and never around to drive either one because of business travel. I had someone there to oversee the removal of the vehicle and received a receipt of pick up from the private towing company.
I immediately received a confirmation letter the day the car was picked up via email from the organization acknowledging the donation and that letter was valid for a write off of $500. The letter acknowledged if the vehicle sold for more than $500 I would receive a 1098C.
About 6 weeks later, I get a follow up email stating the vehicle sold for more that $500 but they did not include the gross amount to legally write off the donation. I learned from the IRS the non-profit had 30 days to produce a 1098C. Despite frequent inquiries to Cars to Help Kids looking for this document, they disregarded the request.
I called the IRS and learned the charity is not listed as a 501C3. The website has no physical address or EIN numbers for tax filing. The BBB has no record of the charity and my Attorney General has no record of them.
Essentially, the IRS claims I can't event claim the $500 standard deduction because the charity does not have any physical address or published non profit tax numbers to claim it. The letter I received claiming I can write off the $500 and acknowledging the donation is invalid because it is not signed by an individual of the organization, the organization's address is not listed and there is no way to prove they are even in the US.
Avoid like the plague.
The website had 501C3 seals on it and I thought I was doing a good thing and getting a tax write off.
The donation exchange went relatively easy, especially since I was out of town on business with a hissy landlord freaking out because I had two vehicles and never around to drive either one because of business travel. I had someone there to oversee the removal of the vehicle and received a receipt of pick up from the private towing company.
I immediately received a confirmation letter the day the car was picked up via email from the organization acknowledging the donation and that letter was valid for a write off of $500. The letter acknowledged if the vehicle sold for more than $500 I would receive a 1098C.
About 6 weeks later, I get a follow up email stating the vehicle sold for more that $500 but they did not include the gross amount to legally write off the donation. I learned from the IRS the non-profit had 30 days to produce a 1098C. Despite frequent inquiries to Cars to Help Kids looking for this document, they disregarded the request.
I called the IRS and learned the charity is not listed as a 501C3. The website has no physical address or EIN numbers for tax filing. The BBB has no record of the charity and my Attorney General has no record of them.
Essentially, the IRS claims I can't event claim the $500 standard deduction because the charity does not have any physical address or published non profit tax numbers to claim it. The letter I received claiming I can write off the $500 and acknowledging the donation is invalid because it is not signed by an individual of the organization, the organization's address is not listed and there is no way to prove they are even in the US.
Avoid like the plague.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Legit charity
Alabama,USA
Legit charity
#2Consumer Comment
Thu, June 29, 2017
I also donated a car to this charity and was very please. They shared with me the name of the parent organization is Others First, which is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax deductible organization . My accountant researched it, and informed me that my car donation was 100% tax-deductible. Apparently they have numerous causes they support, which all fall on your under their main charity called Others First, which does pull up on the IRS website
Jen
Eatontown,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Just another Update on this
#3Author of original report
Sun, February 26, 2012
I sent a scathing email asking for the 1098C, their physical mailing address, and a tax ID#.
Cars To Help Kids responded by providing ONLY a tax ID# that circles back to a company called "OTHERS FIRST". The IRS said that Others First did not legally register Cars to Help Kids as a DBA and the I still can't claim any tac write offs.
The Better Business Bureau has a record of the organization and the owners have been in trouble with the law operating another charity where the funds were misused. That charity lost its 501C3. Others First is a restructuring of that organization and the IRS confirmed they are looking into the matter.
I contacted the NJ Div of Consumer Affairs and they are going to be investigating. I sent off documents today. I also made a demand for the return of the car's value and have been advised that they solicited the donation under false pretense/promises and that is illegal. If they do not produce the money, then I can take them to small claims court since the donation amount was under $5K.
