Giving a gift twice

Posted by bill on December 5, 2008, 10:29 pm

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Can I deduct a gift twice?

In 2004 I gave a painting to a museum, and deducted the charitable
donation. The amount was more than $5,000, and I filed an appraisal
and form 8283.

Now the museum says it doesn't need the painting. It's clearing out
it's collection, and it's going to give it back to me.

So now can I give it to another charity, and deduct that gift?

If so, must I wait a year?

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Posted by Arthur Kamlet on December 5, 2008, 10:39 pm

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>Can I deduct a gift twice?

>In 2004 I gave a painting to a museum, and deducted the charitable

>donation. The amount was more than $5,000, and I filed an appraisal

>and form 8283.

>Now the museum says it doesn't need the painting. It's clearing out

>it's collection, and it's going to give it back to me.

>So now can I give it to another charity, and deduct that gift?

>If so, must I wait a year?

I cannot, off the top of my head, come up with a reason why this
would not work if you indeed waited a year.

But if I were on the church board, and just decided to give away
church property that had been appraised a few years ago for more
than $5,000, something would smell very badly.

Why would any church board just up and give away over $5000 of
its property?

Something smells.
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ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH

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Posted by jerry gitomer on December 5, 2008, 11:31 pm

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Arthur Kamlet wrote:

>> Can I deduct a gift twice?

>> In 2004 I gave a painting to a museum, and deducted the charitable

>> donation. The amount was more than $5,000, and I filed an appraisal

>> and form 8283.

>> Now the museum says it doesn't need the painting. It's clearing out

>> it's collection, and it's going to give it back to me.

>> So now can I give it to another charity, and deduct that gift?

>> If so, must I wait a year?

> I cannot, off the top of my head, come up with a reason why this

> would not work if you indeed waited a year.

> But if I were on the church board, and just decided to give away

> church property that had been appraised a few years ago for more

> than $5,000, something would smell very badly.

> Why would any church board just up and give away over $5000 of

> its property?

> Something smells.

The art world is an entity unto itself.

There have been cases where museums have "deacquisitioned" gifts, sold
them on the open market and have been successfully sued by the heirs of
the person who donated the work to the museum. The logic goes something
like this:
1. The work was given to the museum to display.
2. If the museum no longer intends to display the work it should be
returned to the donor.
3. If the museum sells the work to a collector it is violating an
implied covenant with the donor. (I don't have any idea what the courts
would decide if the museum sold the work to another museum.)

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Posted by Dick Adams on December 6, 2008, 9:39 am

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> The art world is an entity unto itself.

> There have been cases where museums have "deacquisitioned"

> gifts, sold them on the open market and have been successfully

> sued by the heirs of the person who donated the work to the

> museum. The logic goes something like this:

> 1. The work was given to the museum to display.

> 2. If the museum no longer intends to display the work

> it should be returned to the donor.

Taxation is also an entity unto itself. A donation with
a "Return to Donor" clause is not a charitable donation.
It is a loan.

> 3. If the museum sells the work to a collector it is violating

> an implied covenant with the donor. (I don't have any idea

> what the courts would decide if the museum sold the work to

> another museum.)

Back to the OP's question where he donated a painting and took
a deduction for it. Four years the museum is clearing out the
collection containing the painting he donated and is offering
to return the painting to him. This does not strike as an
unusual occurrence. Museums have limited space and this museum
obviously wants the space for another collection.

If the museum sold donated art to collectors and/or dealers,
they would have create a serious PR problem that might have
an adverse effect on future donations. So it makes sense that
the museum give donors the option of recovering their paintings
before such a sale or even an exchange with another museum.

I'm not familiar with the rules and regs pertaining to the
disposal of assets by 501(c)3's. So I ask "DOES THE RETURN OF
A CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION CREATE INCOME TO THE ORIGINAL DONOR?"

If not, why not?

Dick

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Posted by Harlan Lunsford on December 6, 2008, 9:53 am

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Dick Adams wrote:

(snipped for brevity....)

> I'm not familiar with the rules and regs pertaining to the

> disposal of assets by 501(c)3's. So I ask "DOES THE RETURN OF

> A CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION CREATE INCOME TO THE ORIGINAL DONOR?"

> If not, why not?

In the case of medical deductions, any recovering from an insurance
company in a subsequent year is income to the extent of a previous
year's deduction. Rebates of property taxes are other income to the
extent of previous deductions. So then, I'll vote with Dick.
Income at FMV at the time, which may or may not be same as originally
deducted amount; more or less.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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