Appraiser needed

[MPCRR]

Hey guys,

My grandparents gave a bunch of 1.5 scale model trains to a local railroad park , and are trying to claim this on their taxes. The problem is, without an official appraiser, IRS is only allowing $5,000 when they donated over $100,000. They are wondering if there are any official appraisers who would be willing to go over the list of items they donated, and give them the prices.

They do not have any pictures, as the donated items have been around the park for over two months, and people have moved the items around. Any help is needed.

Thanks in advance,

John

 

[JeffShultz]

It might help if you specified what area you were in (just in case an appraiser wanted to go out to the park to see the equipment).

 

[MPCRR]

Phoenix Arizona. Most of the stuff is at the Adobe Western Railroad Park. The problem is most of the stuff has been scattered around the park to different members, so the appraiser only has the list to go on.

 

[UP2CSX]

First, an appraiser is going to have to see the actual equipment, not just a list. Second, your grandparents need some cost basis for the donation, like a receipt or a catalog page that showed the original price of the equipment. They will also have to provide the date of purchase of each piece of equipment. Depending on condition and rarity, some of the equipment has either decreased or increased in value.

Since you're in a big city, just look under "Appraisers" in the yellow pages. It may take a few calls to get someone with enough knowledge to properly appraise the equipment but one can be found. It won't be cheap but, for a $100,000 tax deduction, it will be worth it, since the cost of the appraisal is also tax deductible.