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Tax write off for framed poster donation question

R

Randy Parrish CPF

Frequent Poster
Certified Picture Framer®
Messages
2,210
Location
Ann Arbor Michigan
Company
Parrish Fine Framing
I have a client that is closing his office and had a couple dozen nicely framed museum posters, he wants to donate them to charitable cause and be able to collect a tax write off. Locally our library has a art/poster lending program, the PTO shop, and local recycle shop would all accept the frames and give him a blank form to fill out for his taxes. My question is what kind of value would be acceptable? To frame them today he would be looking at around $150 to $250.
 
Have the customer check with HIS accountant, picture framers are better at brain surgery than at tax accounting. Does your customer itemize?
 
Les is right about checking with his accountant. If you framed them and can supply copies of invoices, it would help. Or if he is a keeper of receipts, it might be worth the trouble to dig them out. Anything over $250 requires a receipt from the recipient, and they are usually going to want to see documentation before supplying it.

I think those fill-in-the-blank receipts would be dicey during an audit. But I am not an accountant and don't even play one on TV.:shame:
 
Well I finally heard back from my accountant who used to be a picture framer, you can give a out a value as long as it doesn't top $5000, over $5000 you need an actual appraisal.
 
What Randy said. I tried to get a write off for a large donation I do every year and my accountant said the same thing. I also incurred about labor and he said no.
 
Randy Parrish said:
Well I finally heard back from my accountant who used to be a picture framer, you can give a out a value as long as it doesn't top $5000, over $5000 you need an actual appraisal.
Click to expand...

If I understand correctly, you're talking about the fact that, as a framer, you can tell someone what the value of something is that they are donating. If so, that's all well and good. But considering that they likely already paid for the artwork and framing, and deducted it as a business expense, I don't see them holding up to an audit for deducting it again.

Please note that I am not an accountant, IRS auditor and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
 
Correct: David

The same double dipping of an expense.


However, ​if the art was personal property of the person and not his business (not paid from business income and charged off as a business expense) the value can now be deducted as a charitable expense on their personal income taxes. This is an unlikely situation.
 
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