8 Jul
2011
8 Jul
'11
7:20 a.m.
On 7/7/2011 10:45 PM, David Griffith wrote:
While preparing the paperwork for some donations to the Computer
History Museum, I started wondering about appraising the artifacts
donated for tax write-off purposes. Who would qualify as an appraiser
of classic computer items? I think I'm a pretty good candidate given
the time I've spent selling the stuff on Ebay. Is this something I
should run by a lawyer?
As Joe C. mentioned in his post, I think that if you use reasonable
values for things, and even better, have documentation showing a sale at
similar prices in any forum, you are likely safe.
As long as you are honest during the process, I don't think any auditor
is going to take issue with it. I can't imagine them saying that your
3b1 or whatever isn't worth what you claim. What would be their basis
for disagreement? Who are they going to hire to appraise it? And if they
do, your number will probably be in the ballpark. And especially if you
have SOMETHING that you relied on --- I doubt they are going to fault
your process. You didn't just pick the number randomly out of the air.
As Joe C said, if we are talking about big $$$, then find tax guy and/or
lawyer.
IMHO,
Keith