ART and TAXES

email | 3/9/06

[woofie]

I recieved this in my email ...and as some of us are aware the rules on art and taxes were changed a while back (not for the better I think ) and may change again....This pertains to that:

(I have edited it a bit)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dear friends, I would like to address you more personal, but it is in regard of an issue crucial to non profits, charitable giving, arts institutions and first of all for artists. In case this did not reach you yet, I urge you to sign a petition among others in support of the bill that would allow artists to claim a fair-market value for donated works for their tax deduction.

By going to the web site http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=8258876&type=CO and entering your zip code, you will be able to send an email in support of the artist deduction bill and against proposed "floors" on itemized deductions. In addition, you can ask for their support of the IRA Charitable Rollover and Tuition deduction renewal, two other provisions that will benefit colleges and universities.

Summary of Senate Tax Bill

· IRA Charitable Rollover, which will allow donors to further their charitable giving without current tax penalties; · Tuition Deduction renewal for an additional four years—an important tax break for students and families; and · Section 208, a tax incentive which would allow artists to claim fair-market value for donated work (currently artists can only claim the cost of materials). The fourth provision would create a barrier to charitable giving and could discourage many of MICA's own donors in the long run: · Section 201 would impose a new "floor" on charitable deductions, meaning taxpayers would be allowed to write off gifts only above $210 ($420 for couples who file jointly)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I would like to hear from any tax experts out there who know about this .

[Capriole]

I'm familiar with some situations in which artists have tried to donate art to some museum or other entity and have been told that they'd have to get the work catalogued and formally appraised. If the artist has no track record of earning $25,000 for a painting, he can't claim a $25,000 deduction for contributing one of his paintings to a museum. In many cases the museum will turn down the donation unless the artist is a person of tremendous prominence. Most of them have a lot more art than they can display and there are millions of deluded idiots churning out millions of pieces of graphic garbage they consider "art", so the standard is pretty high.

[Sam Cree]

That's interesting, thanks for the info. It does seem as if the track record would be one of the defining factors, as I'm sure it is even for work done by the old masters.

[Lady Jag]

[woofie]

You are correct ...It is often hard to donate art