I believe it comes down to possession. If you completed a Deed of Gift
when you received the object on Dec 30, then that shows that the museum
had received and accepted the gift in 2008. If not, you would need a
receipt or similar showing that the transaction was in 2008. If you
complete all the paperwork including the deed of gift in 2009, I believe
that the IRS says that the gift is in 2009. (I'm not a tax specialists
so of course check with your tax advisor and legal council) I do know
the law is a little unclear in this area.
We handled this in two ways at my last museum. One is that we had a
receipt form that was used when any object was taken in for gifts or
loans by the museum to document when we accepted care. On this form
which was signed both the museum and the donor, it documented their
intention to give the object to the museum also with the date of the
action. Additionally, we put a clause into our collections policy that
stated that all gifts have to be approved by the collections committee
and the director before they were accepted.
Here at Sauder Village, we also have a collections committee that meets
only one a month at the start of December so all gifts have to be
approved in advance of the end of the year to be accepted and all
paperwork is completed before the end of the month.
You have to decide how important a "last minute" gift might be and
create a system that allows for the flexibility (or lack of flexibility)
as needed.
Good Luck
Tracie Evans
Curator of Collections
Sauder Village
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Toni Kiser
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 1:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Deed of gift question
I have a similar question. Does any one stipulate the year in which the
gift was given? For instance, items that were given on December 30, 2008
but paperwork isn't completed until January ? 2009. Letters and such
would have 09 dates but the gift would be an 08 for tax purposes.
Right now we have nothing about tax deductions on our deed of gift.
Toni Kiser
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Wade Lawrence
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 12:01 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Deed of gift question
Hello all,
We are revising our Deed of Gift, and our legal council wants to include
some language that I would like to hear from the group about, as
follows:
"Deductions for Charitable Contribution: Under current applicable law,
although it may change from time to time, if Donor elects to claim a
deduction for a charitable contribution of the gift, and the total
claimed value of which exceeds $500, Donor must file with its tax
returns IRS Form 8283. And if the value of the donation is claimed to be
in excess of $5,000, and Donor elects to claim a charitable donation,
then Donor must obtain a qualified written appraisal of the gift from a
qualified appraiser and attach IRS Form 8283 (signed by The Museum) to
your tax return. Again, since applicable law may change, questions
should be addressed to the IRS or your tax advisor."
This language is more specific than I have seen in other deeds of gift.
Any opinions out there?
Wade Lawrence
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