I did a Quilts for Kids kit and sent it back along with a quilt of my own. They did not send a tax receipt. If I wanted to itemize a deduction like this on my taxes (we have not itemized deductions as long as I can remember; the standard deduction always seems to cover us), then I would have taken a photo of the quilt I sent and kept receipts for fabric, batting and thread that went into the quilt. You can deduct only the materials that are donated; no time or labor.
Maybe it depends how seriously you are into making donation quilts. I never thought it worth the time to document what I donate. If I were going to make and donate a lot of quilts, I think I would try to keep materials for donation quilts separate from my own quilts and develop a filing system for receipts. Quilts for Kids did email me a thank you after they received the quilts; I would make a copy of that for my filing system too.
Think about Goodwill. When I drop off items there, they give me a receipt but it does *not* document what I gave or what its value is. I am supposed to attach a list of what was in my donation. Also, there are guidelines for valuing donations. If I buy a pair of jeans for $30 and then donate them to Goodwill unworn, I do not think I can value the donation at $30; maybe half that if the tags are still on? A lot of stuff is valued at only 10% to maybe 25% of original price.
(Edit: Donation quilts are able to be valued by means of original cost of materials. Hope I didn't confuse anyone with the Goodwill example.)
Last edited by Prism99; 03-05-2013 at 08:44 AM.