Tax Considerations
The federal government encourages your generosity by allowing you to deduct your charitable gifts on your income tax return if you itemize. There are certain Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines that must be followed to ensure your charitable deduction (You can learn more at the I.R.S. website). When you make a gift to the Smith College Libraries, our written acknowledgment must be submitted to substantiate your deduction. IRS Form 8283 is used to deduct non-cash charitable contributions with a value over $500. (See www.irs.gov/pub/irs-8283.pdf.) For gifts valued at more than $5,000 you must have the gift appraised within 60 days prior to presenting the gift to the College. You may also want to consider getting an appraisal for individual items valued under $500 to justify setting the value of the item. The IRS requires that the appraiser be qualified, and Smith College is not entitled to appraise gifts received. If you need help locating an appraiser, some standard sources that list appraisers include:
- Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America membership directory http://www.abaa.org/ Tel: (212) 944-8291.
- Massachusetts and Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers membership directory – http://www.mariab.org.
- American Society of Appraisers, P.O. Box 17265, Washington, D.C. 20041 Tel: (703) 478-2228 or (800) 272-8258.
Thank you for considering a gift to the Smith College Libraries.
