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Gifts and Donations
Special Collections and Archives at Southeast
Missouri State University acquires, preserves and makes accessible
research materials that document the historical, literary and cultural
experience of Southeast Missouri, the Mississippi River Valley region, and
the history of Southeast Missouri State University.
Special Collections and Archives is particularly interested in acquiring
material on the environmental history of the region and its development,
as well as materials that document the experience of women and
African-Americans in the region. We will consider offers for donations of
literary papers, family papers of historical significance, business and
organizational records, diaries, journals, personal memoirs, photographs,
maps and other materials that support the collection's focus. They may
have been created by individuals or families or by organizations including
churches, schools, social and civic groups, or political parties. Offers
will be evaluated based on the availability of resources to properly care
for the materials, as well as on their potential research value.
All gifts are acknowledged unless requested
otherwise. Donors will be asked to sign an official deed of gift
acknowledging the donation.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Lisa K. Speer, Special
Collections Librarian and director of Special Collections and Archives at
(573) 986-7446 or by e-mail.
Valuation of Gifts
Under federal tax regulations, Special Collections cannot give appraisals
or estimates of value for donors. Donors are encouraged to seek the
services of a qualified appraiser. Under current federal tax law, a
Qualified Appraisal must be signed and dated by the appraiser and
include the following [Reg. 1.170A-13(c)(3), (4)]:
- a detailed description of the property;
- the date of the gift;
- the physical condition of the property;
- any restriction relating to the
charity's use or disposition of the property;
- the appraiser's name, address, and
taxpayer's identification number;
- the appraiser's qualifications,
especially education, experience and certification;
- a declaration that the appraisal was
performed for tax purposes;
- the date of the appraisal;
- the fair market value of the gift
property on the date of the gift;
- the method of determining the fair
market value;
- the standards used by the appraiser in
determining value; and
- the fees paid by the donor for the
appraisal.
To be "qualified," an appraisal must be
made by a person who declares (on Form 8283) that he or she:
- has the credentials to qualifications
to make appraisals of the particular type of property involved in the
gift, and
- holds himself or herself out to the
public as one who does such appraisals on a regular basis [Reg.
1.170A-13(c)(5)].
An appraiser might be "qualified" to make the
appraisal but not "independent." There are "related party"
prohibitions meant to assure that the objectivity of the appraisal is not
compromised by some relationship between the parties. A qualified
appraiser may not be any of the following:
- the donor;
- the recipient charity or an employee
thereof;
- the person from whom the donor
acquired the property (with limited "safe harbors");
- any person employed by or related to
any of the foregoing;
- a "captive appraiser" who is used
regularly by the donor but not by others; or
- an appraiser who is otherwise
qualified, but who has some incentive to overstate the value.
The qualified appraiser must sign and date the
appraisal, and must sign a declaration that he or she understands that a
false appraisal may subject the appraiser (as well as the taxpayer) to
penalties.
The IRS may reject an appraisal if the
appraising party or organization has an exclusive working relationship
with the charity.
The IRS does not publish a list of acceptable
appraisers. The American Society
of Appraisers does publish a directory of certified appraisers by
state and by specialty.
A qualified appraisal must be obtained no
earlier than 60 days prior to the date of the charitable gift, and no
later than the due date for filing the donor's income tax return
(including extensions) on which the gift is first reported [Reg.
1.170A-13(c)(3)(i)].
Please consult current federal tax law for
information on the penalties for overvaluation of charitable gifts. |
