The Challenges of Furniture Removal

When a company decides to renovate a hotel or convert it to a condominium, one of the first logistical challenges they face is how to quickly and efficiently clear out all of the furniture and other hotel items from the floors so that construction can begin.

The financial challenge is how to significantly benefit from disposing of items often worth in excess of a million dollars.

The Wrong Choice - Liquidation

Many companies faced with this situation choose to call a liquidator who will typically pay between 5 and 8 cents on the dollar for the items in the hotel. Companies use liquidators because they know the hotel will be cleared quickly enabling renovation or construction to begin quickly. While liquidators generally do a good job removing the furniture, the donating company generally does not reap much benefit from the transaction.

The Right Choice - Charitable Donations

When a company donates all the contents of the hotel to charity they can claim a tax write-off for the full appraised value of the furniture which generally nets the company four to eight times more money than a liquidator. For example, a million dollars worth of furniture will get bids from liquidators that average $65,000. By donating that same furniture the company can write off one million dollars which will be a net value to the company of approximately $317,000.

How we can help

Our network of charities and schools has proven experience in quickly, effectively and safely removing all of the items from a hotel and making sure that every item is properly accounted for and used by a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization. We meticulously keep all records and do all tax work needed to accompany your IRS Form 8283 that supports your deduction.

While it is true that you could donate the items in your hotel to any charity and get the same tax benefit, the fact is that very few charities are able to accept, quickly remove and absorb a donation the size of an entire hotel worth of furniture. Most charities will only accept the higher value items leaving you with thousands of unwanted items.

(Extremely Important!)  In order for your deduction to be honored by the IRS the charities must use the items. If the charity sells the items to a liquidator, the IRS will only allow you to claim a write off for the amount of money that the charity received for the sale of the items. We have the expertise and take responsibility to ensure that all items are placed with charities that will directly benefit, thereby ensuring the integrity of the tax deduction.

We work quickly, neatly, efficiently, and we provide financial guarantees to ensure that we finish the job by the time we say we will do so.

How much you can benefit

Tale of the Tape for a typical hotel converting to condominium (furniture appraised at $1,000,000)

**Donation = Our Compensation

As mentioned above, in order to preserve the integrity of the write-off, the charity cannot turn around and sell the items or else the write off is only given for the amount that the charity receives. Our charity ensures that all of the items are used and properly accounted for. This very often results in costs incurred by our schools such as transportation, storage, and additional labor. All proceeds go directly to fund scholarships for children from needy families.