Tax Question: Donating My Collection

[AllenLowe]

I am starting to organize, for the purposes of donation, my LP and CD collection, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 total pieces. I am going to get the collection assessed fairly. My question is - for the purposes of legal documentation to the IRS, is it necessary to list all items? Or is a generalized statement - like "2000 LPs, total value ____" sufficient?

I was wondering if anyone else had experience with this.

[Teasing the Korean]

If you're donating them to a non-profit, their official gift receipt/acknowledgment will provide detail only on the goods donated, not the value. So, you would have to get your own independent evaluation, but I'm not sure how you go about evaluating that many records at once - there are so many factors, e.g. pressing, rarity, condition, etc. It's then between you and the IRS.

I believe that for insurance purposes, if you don't have itemized values, you can say X records at $5 a piece, etc.

I'm not an expert on this but I dealt with gifts in-kind to non-profits over the years.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Teasing the Korean

[kh1958]

You may need a "qualified appraisal" to claim a charitable deduction of $5000 or more. Here is a link to the IRS publication which provides guidance.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p561/ix01.html

[Dave James]

It gets more complicated when the value of the "gift" exceeds $5,000. At that point, the IRS requires an independent assessment of the value of the "gift" and the beneficiary must acknowledge receipt of the donation and substantiate its value. I don't think at any point an itemized listing is required. As is always the case, it's best to consult a tax professional before you get too far along in the process.

[AllenLowe]

thanks, yes, I have a good person to assess the collection - so it sounds like I can just give the number of items and the value - I will, however, do a little IRS reading.

[Teasing the Korean]

Yes, I should have mentioned the $5,000 threshold - I'm sure if you're donating 5,000 albums, they will be worth way more than that.

[Bright Moments]

Yes, I should have mentioned the $5,000 threshold - I'm sure if you're donating 5,000 albums, they will be worth way more than that.

don't be so sure about that - allen has 2,500 copies of:

[Teasing the Korean]

Yeah, but all 2,500 copies have that rare bonus track...

[Dave James]

Arguably the most ill-advised album cover photo in the history of recorded music. Who knew that Herbie Mann had a Will Farrell-like need to expose himself.

[AllenLowe]

I don't know....all that hair just turns me on - it's kinda like having sex with Bigfoot. Here's a recent picture of my wife:

Edited August 24, 2010 by AllenLowe