A donation appraisal the IRS will recognize.
Donating a work of art, a car, a cellar, or anything else from the collection, and claiming a deduction above $5,000? The IRS requires a qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser. Cove prepares it, on the right value basis, inside the required timing window, with the evidence attached.
Three rules decide everything.
Charitable donations of property are one of the most closely specified corners of the tax code. The good news: the requirements are knowable, and meeting them is Cove's job, not yours.
Above $5,000, an appraisal is required.
A deduction above $5,000 for an item, or a group of similar items, requires a qualified appraisal and Form 8283, Section B, signed by the appraiser.
Above $500,000, the full signed appraisal is attached to the return itself.
The window is narrow.
The appraisal must be made no earlier than 60 days before the donation date and be in hand before the return is filed. A report dated outside the window does not count, however good it is.
Fair Market Value, evidenced.
Donation deductions rest on Fair Market Value: what the work would change hands for between a willing buyer and a willing seller. Every number in a Cove report shows the comparable sales behind it.
Ready to file, ready to defend.
A qualified appraisal meeting IRS requirements, prepared to USPAP standards and suitable for insurers, estates, and the IRS, by an appraiser who meets the Internal Revenue Service definition of a qualified appraiser.
Complete and signed.
Full cataloging, provenance as documented, condition, market analysis, and the appraiser's signature where Form 8283 requires it.
Every value shows its work.
Comparable sales sourced and dated, attached to every number. If a value is ever questioned, the answer is already in the report.
The donation joins your record.
The report, the Form 8283 details, and the deaccession all file themselves against the piece. Your collection record stays complete even as the collection changes.
Cove prepares the appraisal and the documentation. Cove does not provide tax or legal advice: your accountant or attorney confirms deductibility and filing, working from a report built to answer their questions.
Already in Cove? Days, not weeks.
If the collection is already in Cove, the work's cataloging, provenance, and market evidence are assembled before the engagement begins. The appraisal is a matter of days.
If not, a donation is a fine first door. The appraisal stands on its own, and it can become the first entry in a living record of everything you collect.
Appraisals for what comes next.
Tell us about the gift.
What you are donating, to whom, and when. We will confirm the timeline against the IRS window and quote the engagement. From $100 per piece, scaling with volume.
Thank you.
A member of the Cove team will be in touch shortly.