Non-Cash Donations - Appraisal Required for "Categories" over $5,000

[Ephesians3-14]

I have a wealthy client who provided receipts for non-cash donations of approx $42,000 in total I want to make sure I understand the "more than $5,000" appraisal required rule for noncash donations. As I understand it, I need to see how much was donated for each category (e.g., furniture, collectibles, etc.) and determine if the category in total exceeds $5,000. And if the donations in a particular category exceed $5,000 in total (regardless of whether the taxpayers made those donations to 10 different charitable organizations), then they need an appraisal letter  - which, of course, almost all taxpayers never have when tax time rolls around.

My client donated the following items - totals by category are shown below (their estimate):

Furniture $32,000 (A lot of this was old colonial-style antique furniture)

Collectibles $8,000 

Jewelry - $2,800

Toys - $600

I guess the first place I would start is to ask them how they arrived at their FMV. But assuming they did their due diligence and their estimates of  FMV are reasonable, if I understand the $5,000 "appraisal required" limit correctly, I think that their deduction for the furniture and collectibles categories are limited to $5,000 each.

Do I have that right?

[Terry53029 · Accepted solution]

This is from IRS. Seems clear if you claim over $5000 you must have appraisal.

You must fill out one or more Forms 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions and attach them to your return, if your deduction for each noncash contribution is more than $500. If you claim a deduction of more than $500, but not more than $5,000 per item (or a group of similar items), you must fill out Form 8283, Section A. If you claim a deduction of more than $5,000 per item (or a group of similar items), you must obtain a qualified appraisal of the item or group of items and fill out Form 8283, Section B. If you claim a deduction of more than $500,000 for a contribution of noncash property, you must fill out Form 8283, Section B, and also attach the qualified appraisal to your return.