> >
> > Well, with a few caveats, it should be your marginal
>tax rate (your
> > 'bracket') times the valuation of the donation. For
>example, your $1000
> > donation should bring you a $280 tax deduction if you
>are in the 28%
> > bracket.
> > - don
The "value" of a item donated to a museum is not mecessarily the market
value. In many cases the numbers are vastly inflated in order to entice
additional donations.
Let's assume you are in a high tax bracket and looking for a little relief.
You find a bargain on a very rare computer and pay $10,000 for it. You haul
it down to the local technology museum, who is anxious to have the donation,
and agree to give them the item. In exchange you ask them to provide a
receipt for $100,000 for the machine. Since it's not costing them anything
and the addition to the museum will entice additional visitors, they gladly
agree to provide the receipt.
You claim a $100,000 donation on your tax return and pay taxes on that much
less of your income. That would probably be in the 30% - 40% range. Or a
savings of $30,000 to $40,000!!!
So... for your $10,000 investment you:
1.) Look like a real upstanding citizen for supporting the local museum.
2.) Get your name on a plaque in the museum (free advertising).
3.) Save $30,000 to $40,000 on your taxes.
The museum gets a nice addition to it's collection at no cost.
Next time you go to a museum, look around. Most of the really valuable
things were not donated because someone felt particularily generous. They
were donated because the owners got huge tax breaks by donating them. The
whole thing is a SCAM!
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at
http://explorer.msn.com
Received on Mon Mar 05 2001 - 08:00:55 GMT