Reviewing this book for possible adoption in a course. Seems like a good one. Skimming it, my eye was caught by the authoritative treatment of the taxation of appreciated taxidermy property when given to charities of various types. If I paid $10 for the beaver (and can substantiate with an appropriate bill of sale) in 1982, and it is now worth $132 dollars and I give to a natural history museum for the use of the charity, that is as an exhibit, assuming I itemize deductions, and do not have any carry forwards from an earlier year, and that my adjusted gross income is $12,475 in 2009, including my net winnings at blackjack, what will be my deduction and tax savings? How much farther ahead will I be over just selling the beaver, paying the capital gains tax at (assume) 15% and giving the net amount to the museum? (Assume no transaction costs, or sales tax.) With a little research, I will soon know the answer.
If you donate taxidermy property to a qualified organization, your deduction is limited to your basis in the property or its fair market value, whichever is less. This applies if you prepared, stuffed, or mounted the property or paid or incurred the cost of preparing, stuffing, or mounting the property.
Your basis for this purpose includes only the cost of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the property. Your basis does not include transportation or travel costs. It also does not include direct or indirect costs for hunting or killing an animal, such as equipment costs and the costs of preparing an animal carcass for taxidermy.
Taxidermy property means any work of art that:
- Is the reproduction or preservation of an animal, in whole or in part,
- Is prepared, stuffed, or mounted to recreate one or more characteristics of the animal, and
- Contains a part of the body of the dead animal.
