"xyzzy" wrote"
- quote -

Occasionally IRS is uninhibited from saying things in Pubs
which are not in the law, and condition is "critical" for
any property subject to wear and tear - especially an item
t./p appears to think is better donated to a charity which
doesn't need a boat rather than sold to donate the cash.
Upon IRS audit, you will need to establish the value in a
manner satisfactory to them. Autos have Blue Books and
airplanes have Trade-A-Plane, so whatever you can gather for
boats should be sufficient. The prop. tax bill is
worthless, unless it represents fair market value on the
date of donation, and they sent out someone qualified to
inspect its condition. Shine her up and take good, detailed
pictures of it before you donate.

Fred F.

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xyzzy wrote:

- quote -

If the property tax bills are based on an actual, recent,
appraisal, I might go with that. In California, under
Proposition 13, the "assessed value" may have little
relationship to the current value (although it's usually
lower). Even in states in which the assessed value is
supposed to be an estimate of the actual value, depreciation
in value with age is usually not taken into account unless
the taxpayer files an assessment appeal.

As far as I can determine from the code and regulations,
some appraisal is needed if the value is over $500, and a
formal appraisal is needed if the value is over $5000. I
believe Publication 561 suggests that an appraisal is the
only acceptable method of determining fair market value for
a boat. As the IRS has discretion as to what an
"acceptable" method of determining FMV, under the
regulations, it may be wise to consider their opinion.

(For what it's worth, there's a proposal in Congress to
reduce the $5000 limit for $500 for automobiles. I don't
know whether it also would apply to boats.)

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- quote -

If you claim a deduction on your return of over $500 for all
contributed property, you must attach a Form 8283 (PDF),
Noncash Charitable Contributions, to your return. If you
claim a total deduction of $5,000 or less for all
contributed property, you need only complete Section A of
Form 8283. If you claim a deduction of more than $5,000 for
an item or a group of similar items, you generally need to
complete Section B of Form 8283 which requires a qualified
appraisal by a qualified appraiser.

You will need to obtain and keep evidence of your car
donation and be able to substantiate the fair market value
of the car. If you are claiming a deduction of $250 or more
for the car donation, you will also need a written
acknowledgement from the charity that includes a description
of the car and a statement of whether the charity provided
any goods or services in return for the car and, if so, a
description and estimate of the fair market value of the
goods or services.

For more information on these requirements, refer to
Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, Publication 561,
Determining the Value of Donated Property; Form 8283,
Noncash Charitable Contributions; and its instructions, and
Tax Topic 506, Contributions.

"Jack" - John H. Fisher - TaxService[at]aol.com
Philadelphia, Pa - Atlantic City, NJ - West Wildwood, NJ
My Newsgroups & Boards at: http://members.aol.com/TaxService/index.html

Where Ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise!=

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I am considering donating a boat to a local charity and was
looking for guidance on how to value it. IRS publication
561 says only:

"Except for inexpensive small boats, the valuation of boats
should be based on an appraisal by a marine surveyor because
the physical condition is so critical to the value."

Not sure how they define "inexpensive, small boats". I was
planning on using the value according to the property tax
bills I get for the boat, which is less than $2,000.

Is there any other guidance on what "small and inexpensive"
means. The only other thing I could find was from the
website of a national boat donation mill that seems to imply
$5000 as the threshhold, but I'm not sure I want to take
their word for it.
(http://www.kcenter.org/google/boats/faqs.html,
note this isn't necessarily who I was considering donating to)

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