In article ,
Gould 0738 wrote:

Far more honest. A product you have for sale is worth...what it sells
for, eh? Why should I be able to write off a donation of a clapped-out
old Junkercraft for $100,000, when it only fetches $9,000 at sale?

Is it worth what is brings at a distress sale, or what it could reasonably
expect to retail for?

There is certainly abuse in the current system, and I saw some of that when I
was involved in that industry. Your example of an appraisal being 11 times what
an asset is sold for is pretty extreme.

Once you have donated an asset to a charitable organization, you lose control
over how it is marketed. Cash-strapped charities often dump donations to make
payroll, rent, meet program funding commitments, etc.

If you pay $100,000 for a Junkercraft, take good care of it for a few years,
add some upgrades, and then get an indendent survey for $100,000 it's worth a
figure closer to that $100,000 than the $9,000 you suggested in the
hypothetical example.

Doesn't matter Chuck.

The only thing that unique items (which all cars, boats, etc are) can be
honestly valued by is what they are actually sold for.

Like I said, I know folks who have abused this. There are some really
interesting people out there, and if you think a bit about the current
hurricane damaged boats around in the salvage yards, I bet you can figure
out the scam that more than a few high net-worth folks run with this little
game.

Its long past time that it was stopped - it may have been legal, but its
way, way improper.

Under the old system it was entirely possible to buy something for a few
thousand bucks, spend a few more getting it into "operating" condition, then
get a C&V survey for $100k and donate it, taking more off your tax bill than
you spent!

That is, the government is actually PAYING YOU to perform this transaction (!)

That is the kind of abuse that was going on, and there is no way to stop it
other than to force the deduction to be the actual resale value recognized
by the charity.

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