Car Donation South Dakota

Car Donation SD Programs

Non-running vehicles often accepted.

Some charities offer same day pickup.

You may qualify for a nice tax deduction.

South Dakota car donation services make it a fast and painless way to donate
your vehicle to a worthwhile charity, while getting you a tax deduction.

Follow these steps, and your car donation will go smooth and quick:

1.  Is the South Dakota charity legitimate - or a scam? 
In every state, including South Dakota, fraudulent charities solicit vehicle donations from unwary donors.  Little or no money from the donated vehicles makes it to the 'real' charity, and donors don't get a tax deduction from their claims.  Fortunately, you can quickly check if a charity is legit - right here on this website.

At the time of this writing, it isn't clear if charities are required to register in South Dakota (with either the Secretary of State or Attorney General's offices).  

...So the thing to do is check with online charity watchdog services - links below.

There's also a link to the South Dakota Secretary of State's online business entity search.  Most charities in the state should be in this database.

2. Is the South Dakota charity registered with the IRS?  It should be listed on IRS Publication 78 (link below) as an eligible charity.  Legitimate or not, the charity has to be registered with the IRS for you to get your car donation tax deduction.

3. Have the vehicle title in your possession.  Replacement titles can be gotten at the South Dakota Motor Vehicles Division (link below).  It is here you will sign the vehicle's title over to the charity. 

(Some charities will offer to do the title transfer for you.  But you may want to do this yourself. This will ensure you aren't held responsible for any future liabilities connected with the vehicle.) 

4. Arrange for the charity to pick up the vehicle.  Don't pay for the vehicle to be towed - the South Dakota charity (or solicitation service for the charity) should pay for it.  (If they won't, find another charity.)  Remove the license plates from the vehicle before it is towed away.

5. Save your receipts for when you file your taxes.  You must itemize your taxes to get a car donation tax deduction.

Important Links:

Online business entity search - The South Dakota Secretary of State maintains a database of all business entities.  The charity you are researching may be listed here.

Is the car donation charity listed 'in good standing' with one or more of the following 'charity watchdog' organizations?

Charity Navigator - http://www.charitynavigator.org/

Better Business Bureau Charities - http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/

GuideStar Charity Check - http://www2.guidestar.org/

Charity Watch - http://www.charitywatch.org/

IRS Publication 78 - See if the charity is listed here.  (It needs to be in order for you to be eligible for a car donation tax deduction - even if the charity is legit.)

South Dakota Office of The Attorney General - report any problems here. 

South Dakota Division of Motor Vehicles - Here's where you will sign over the vehicle's title to your selected charity.

Make a South Dakota car donation here in the "Mount Rushmore State." You stand to benefit in several ways, not the least of which is the possibility of a good car donation tax deduction.  You also get the guaranteed satisfaction of knowing you've done a good deed.  But it doesn't stop there - you may be able to avoid the significant time-consuming hassles of preparing an older vehicle for sale, then advertising and selling it!