To give to charity or not to give. How do I know what is in my best financial interest?

Determine your tax bracket - If you're up in the 30 to 40 percent range, and donating a car that's in relatively good condition, you could benefit from a sizable write-off. If you've got a vehicle worth a couple thousand bucks at the most and you're down in the 15 to 20 percent bracket you should to sell your car, truck, Station wagon, or suv for cash. This way you walk away with cash in your pocket. The tax dollars you would save by claiming it as a deduction would be negligible.

You must itemize to benefit - Many taxpayers can't take a deduction for car donations because they don't itemize deductions on their personal tax return. For taxpayers, the decision to itemize is determined by whether their total itemized deductions are greater than the standard deduction (for 2004, the standard deduction was be $4,850 for single; $7,150 for head of household and $9,700 for married filing jointly).