Case: Taxpayers Failed to Show Qualified Appraisers for Charitable Contribution Deduction (T.C. Memo) (IRC §170)

Taxpayers failed to obtain qualified appraisals from qualified appraisers for their claimed charitable contribution deduction, the U.S. Tax Court held, granting in part the IRS’s motion for summary judgment. Taxpayers, a married couple, filed an amended return claiming a $284,553 charitable contribution deduction for donating clothing, cobblestones, and flooring materials to a church. The IRS disallowed the deduction and, after CDP proceedings, determined that Taxpayers failed to: (1) secure a contemporaneous written acknowledgement from the alleged donee; (2) secure “qualified appraisals” for any of the items contributed; and (3) establish that the individuals who signed the Forms 8283 attached to ...