This came up recently as a listserve topic, although I do not remember if it was here. The response from a couple sources was that the current state of the law has not changed. Artists can only claim the costs of the materials involved in their work. There is a bill up for consideration which might change that, but it has stalled for one reason or another. It seems unlikely it will pass, as there has been such a bill proposed periodically for decades, and it has never passed. There was no speculation as to the reason that it never passes, but my suspicion is that it gets shot down by IRS interests. Why would the government find it useful or feasible to allow such a thing? To put it another way...An artist who paints a painting for $200 in materials and sells it for $100000, clearly makes a lot of money and will pay significant taxes. Why would the IRS allow that artist to paint a couple more paintings, donate them, then write off $200000? Sounds nice for the artist, but a wash for the government. Perhaps the IRS's issue concerns subsequent owners/buyers taking capital gains/losses on the works. If the artist takes the tax benefits, then it might have a negative effect on future ability to do so. How would a donor take tax benefit for giving us a work if that has already been done by the artist initially? Discussion? An interesting topic. Mark Janzen Registrar/Collections Manager Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection Wichita State University (316)978-5850 Sara_Hignite@AISM AIL.WUSTL.EDU Sent by: Museum To discussion list [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask] cc SE.LSOFT.COM> Subject Artist Fair Market Value Deduction 10/05/2005 11:12 AM Please respond to Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask] SE.LSOFT.COM> Does anyone know where tax law currently stands on artists making donations of their own artwork? I know that there have been several bills presented to Congress over the past few years, most recently in February of this year. However, I can't find any specific information on the status of this bill. So, I'm assuming that it has yet to make it through the system, which means that artists can still only deduct the cost of materials used to make a donated artwork, versus deducting the fair market value of the work. Any knowledge you can share will be much appreciated! Thanks, Sara Sara Rowe Hignite, Registrar Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Washington University in St. Louis One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1214 St. Louis, MO 63130 Tel. 314.935.5385; Fax 314.935.7282 http://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).