Things To Do When Making An Art Donation

103 23
If you are thinking of going through your house like an exterminator and ridding everything you have, you could think about giving up for donation some of your art to charity.
However, before you do, knowing a little bit about the gift giving laws will help greatly.
You don't want any legal termites coming back to get you years later when they discover you've been ridding assets without going through the normal and required legal procedures.
You can look online for the particular publications about this on the IRS website.
However, for now, here is some useful information to get you started.
Publication 526 (on their site), talks about a charitable donation can be considered a gift or offering your art as a gift to give a qualified organization.
A qualified organization would fall under the category of a non-profit organization that is either a religious group, a charity, an educational group, scientific, literary group or some kind of organization that provides relief in the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
There is a lot more detail on the IRS website, if you are interested in getting into more detail about this particular law.
Before donating the artwork, you need to fill out a form numbered 8283.
This must accompany your gift.
It includes details such as how you came upon the artwork yourself, what condition it is in, and its fair market price at the time you are making the donation.
The person that is making claims as to the value of the piece must be a qualified person when it comes to making valuations.
Simply guessing yourself will not be considered professional enough for an evaluation.
When having an evaluation of the artwork, make sure you are going to be making the donation within the next 60 days as the evaluation will become null and void should you go over the 60 day mark.
Be sure that you do want to donate your artwork as once everything is final and it has been handed over, there is no going back.
This is a big decision, just as much as selling a piece of art, as once it's finalized you cannot have ownership of the work any longer.
Another thing to keep in mind is whether or not you would like to be the registered donor.
This means, do you want your name associated with the donation or not.
Should you not want to, the art will simply say "anonymous donor.
" However, if you decide you want an anonymous donation and then change your mind at a later date, this too could be irreversible.
The decisions of whether to make an anonymous donation, or have your name associated with the donation, will also very much needs to be made in the beginning.
If the donation is larger than a 20,000-dollar amount, it is common that the Advisory Committee of the Arts will need to see and review the work beforehand.
Take a look at the IRS site to be exactly sure of your legal rights and obligations, this will prevent any trouble and create a smooth donation process for you.
Source...
Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up here to get the latest news, updates and special offers delivered directly to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe at any time

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.