Charitable Donation & IRS Form 8283 FAQs
Answers to the questions we hear most. What drives value, when you need a USPAP-compliant appraisal, and how the process works.
DONATION APPRAISAL BASICS
Understanding Charitable Donation Appraisals and IRS Form 8283
Most questions about charitable donation appraisals come down to a handful of core issues: when the IRS requires a qualified appraisal, how fair market value gets determined for a specific asset, and what documentation belongs with Form 8283 once a claimed deduction crosses the $5,000 threshold.
The questions below cover the situations that come up most often, from valuing a bag of clothing donated to Goodwill to documenting a numismatic coin collection or a business ownership interest. Some are about the rules themselves, like what counts as a non-cash gift or when Section B of Form 8283 applies. Others are practical, like what to do if you donated property without a receipt or how the IRS treats a charitable deduction that gets audited.
If your situation involves an asset that's likely to need a qualified appraisal, our team can scope the assignment and provide a fixed-fee quote before any work begins.