HoustonChronicle.com - Will: Congress may muck up revenue stream for nonprofits
Charitable institutions nationwide raise millions of dollars by having donated vehicles auctioned. In 2000, 733,000 taxpayers reduced their liability by about $654 million. Congress is dismayed, too much so, at the disparity between the valuation placed on a car by a donator (say, $5,000 — the threshold above which an independent appraisal already is required) and the amount a charity may reap from auctioning it (say, $500).