Donations of clothing and household items to charity

What should you do if you donate over $5,000 worth of clothing and household items to Goodwill? First of all you should list all of the individual items donated and get a receipt from the charity. You should also take pictures of the donations. Obtaining the value of the donated items is the tricky part. Usually such items are worth at most only 20% of the retail cost. Many charities have online guidelines for what clothing and household items are worth in good condition. To avoid complications with an IRS audit you should consider getting an appraisal before you donate the items.