Art Appraisals

Thank you for contacting us about [describe the materials; comment on their research value if appropriate]. Unfortunately we are not allowed to provide monetary appraisals.

[If this is for a potential donation to the Pacific University Art Collection, include this information]

For tax purposes, the IRS sees it as a conflict of interest for us to provide appraisals or for us to arrange an appraisal on your behalf. Basically, the valuation has to come either from you directly or from an outside qualified appraiser. If you're claiming a donated value under $500, you don't have to get an official appraisal done. If you're claiming a value between $500-$5000, then you'll have to fill out IRS Form 8283 and attach it to your tax return, but you still won't necessarily need a professional appraisal. It's only when you go over $5000 in value that you have to provide an appraisal along with Form 8283. In that case, you would need to find a "qualified appraiser" to compile a report for your taxes. Appraisals can cost a fair amount of money to have done, so you'll have to weigh the cost of the appraisal against what you anticipate getting from a deduction. We recommend talking to a tax or estate professional if you have questions. Pacific's Advancement Department may be able to provide some more information as well.

[Referrals to appraisers for tax purposes]

If the appraisal is so that you can claim it as charitable donation for tax purposes, you will need to be very careful to get an appraiser with experience preparing reports for the IRS. Look for someone who affirms that they are a “Qualified Appraiser” for tax purposes. Expect to spend at least $500. There are some listed on the web sites of these organizations:

• Art Dealers of America, https://artdealers.org/appraisal-service

• International Society of Appraisers, https://www.isa-appraisers.org/find-an-appraiser

  • Appraisers Association of America, https://www.appraisersassociation.org/

• American Society of Appraisers, https://www.appraisers.org/find-an-appraiser

  • Oregon Museums Association > Member Businesses, https://www.oregonmuseums.org/Member-Businesses

[Referrals to appraisers for insurance or personal interest purposes]

If this is for insurance or personal interest purposes, you can take appraisals from a wider field, and it should cost less than an appraisal for tax purposes. The same appraisers linked above will often do appraisals for insurance at a lower rate. You may also be able to get a less-formal appraisal through a local gallery, or even online through just a photograph, though this is not going to be as accurate as an in-person appraisal.

[Special rule for potential donation of personal papers/art CREATED BY THE DONOR him/herself]

There are some special tax rules about taking deductions on donations of material that you created yourself. We can't offer tax advice on this (please do consult a tax professional), but here is the basic issue. Thanks to the Tax Reform Act of 1969, people cannot take deductions on the donated value of writings, artwork, etc. that they had created themselves, except for the value of the raw materials themselves like that paper or the paint they used to make them. So for example, if an author wanted to donate his own drafts of a novel to an archive, he could only deduct the cost of the paper, not the market value of the drafts. This page includes some more information about this issue. We do recommend talking to a tax or estate professional if this situation is of concern to you.