I donated a Vandercook 325G to a nonprofit arts organization and my accountant says I need to get an appraisal done for it since its fair market value exceeds $5K. Could anyone suggest someone who could do this for me? I live in upstate NY, although it might be able to be done electronically. It can be someone who simply knows this sort of equipment and the market really well. I will of course pay a reasonable fee for this service.
Kirin
You are into a very technical part of the Internal Revenue Code. Because of abuses, Internal Revenue Code section 170 goes on for pages and has many difficult to follow rules. You should take a good look at IRS Publication 561 (available at IRS.gov) for guidance.
A qualified appraiser is defined in Pub 561 as:
“A qualified appraiser is an individual who meets all the following requirements.
The individual either:
Has earned an appraisal designation from a recognized professional appraiser organization for demonstrated competency in valuing the type of property being appraised, or
Has met certain minimum education and experience requirements. For real property, the appraiser must be licensed or certified for the type of property being appraised in the state in which the property is located. For property other than real property, the appraiser must have successfully completed college or professional-level coursework relevant to the property being valued, must have at least 2 years of experience in the trade or business of buying, selling, or valuing the type of property being valued, and must fully describe in the appraisal his or her qualifying education and experience.
The individual regularly prepares appraisals for which he or she is paid.
The individual demonstrates verifiable education and experience in valuing the type of property being appraised. To do this, the appraiser can make a declaration in the appraisal that, because of his or her background, experience, education, and membership in professional associations, he or she is qualified to make appraisals of the type of property being valued.
The individual has not been prohibited from practicing before the IRS under section 330(c) of title 31 of the United States Code at any time during the 3-year period ending on the date of the appraisal.
The individual is not an excluded individual.”
The IRS publication also has guidelines when the value of the property is less than 5k
lad boyle
Kirin
I have done appraisals for presses and the like before. The problem here is there does not seem to be a record of 325Gs consistently sold for over $5000 (or ever). Appraisals have to be based on documentation. Also note that anyone who appraises equipment has to be able to back that up in court and the expenses for that are built into appraisal costs.
You might lower your expectations and perhaps your accountant would let it go through? though I am not sure what that implied $5000 limit actually means.
Gerald