Linda Arbuckle on sat 16 apr 05
Hello Everyone,
Karen Koblitz, CA majolica artist, forwarded this to me from Susan
Kileen, Executive Director, Hawaii Consortium for the Arts.
The web link below will help you identify your reps and provides copy
for you to send should you wish to use their wording. You can e-mail
your senator and rep about this. I think it's important. A collector who
buys your work and donates to a non-profit may deduct the price of the
work. Artists may only deduct the cost of materials. Most of us are
philanthropic, but the studio overhead and time we put into the work are
the more significant part of the value of the work. Please consider
taking the time to send a note on this. All you need is your zipcode.
Linda Arbuckle
14716 SE 9th Terr
Micanopy, FL 32667
(352) 466-3520
L.arbuckle@att.net
http://www.arts.ufl.edu/artex02/html/ceramics/arbuckle.html
____________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On April 12, Reps. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) issued a
"Dear Colleague" letter that went to all members of the U.S. House of
Representatives, asking them to cosponsor H.R. 1120, the Artists'
Contribution to American Heritage Act of 2005. As you may know, this is
the legislation that would allow artists to take a tax deduction for the
fair market value of works that they contribute to arts organizations
*that will use the works, not sell them for cash*. Under current law, an
artist may take a deduction for the cost of materials rather than the
work's true value, whether the recipient keeps the work or not. The
letter will be posted to the Americans for the Arts site tomorrow.
Now is the time for you to ask your House members to cosponsor the bill.
We've put a message on our Capwiz site that you can use - that alert can
be found here:
http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=7155976
&type=CO
In the last Congress, the bill got 103 co-sponsors. We'd like to get
more this time around! Thanks.
John Hesselberth on sat 16 apr 05
On Saturday, April 16, 2005, at 11:50 AM, Linda Arbuckle wrote:
> Most of us are
> philanthropic, but the studio overhead and time we put into the work
> are
> the more significant part of the value of the work. Please consider
> taking the time to send a note on this. All you need is your zipcode.
I don't like to be negative on this subject, but I think the current
law is very fair and consistent. NO ONE is allowed to deduct the value
of the time they donate to charities. Lawyer who do free legal work
can't. Doctors (like our own Tom Sawyer) who help the poor through
charitable organizations can't. Teachers who volunteer to teach English
as a second language to immigrants can't. No one else can. Why do we
artists continually think we should be a privileged class and be able
to??? The logic totally escapes me.
End of rant. Sorry about that, but this one mystifies me every time it
comes up.
Regards,
John
John Jensen on sun 17 apr 05
Help me please with my confusion. If I contribute a piece of artwork to =
a
charity auction and the piece sells for a certain sum, may I or may I =
not
deduct that sum from my taxable income; or in some way list it as a
charitable contribution. The fair market value of it has been =
established
by the actual sale. If I contribute something I did not make, such as =
an
automobile or a painting I had inherited (for example) I could list =
these at
some established fair market value.
I can't quite understand why my having made the piece would make it
different from a piece I otherwise owned.
I think it would be a good thing if Doctors, Lawyers, teachers, =
Mechanics,
everyone could get some sort of tax break for contributing their =
expertise
and time for the general good. Those of us whose greatest wealth is
embodied in our knowledge, skill and time should be on some tax parity =
with
those whose wealth is tangible and bankable. But if we were going to =
talk
about revising the tax code, I suspect there might be some better place =
to
start. In the meantime, I guess the bill that is before the congress at =
the
moment represents a special interest and that is what we are in this =
case.
It really isn't our job as artists to lobby for the interest of lawyers,
doctors, or teachers. We have a right to look out for our own interest =
as
much as does anyone else. Or so it seems to me.
Maybe there are those among us who feel that artists should be a
privileged class, but as I look around me I don't really see that we =
are.
We are not an oppressed class either, but the advantages of society are =
not
exactly heaped on us. I'm not any sort of expert on the tax code, but I =
do
have the feeling that (in general) artist are not among the most =
advantaged.
Oil companies, lumber industries, coal mining companies, automobile
industry, communications, weapons, prisons: These may have some sort of
advantage in the tax structure. Like I said...I'm not a tax expert. =
Just a
tax payer.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
John Jensen@mudbugpottery.com
http://www.toadhouse.com www://www.mudbugpottery.com
I don't like to be negative on this subject, but I think the current
law is very fair and consistent. NO ONE is allowed to deduct the value
of the time they donate to charities. Lawyer who do free legal work
can't. Doctors (like our own Tom Sawyer) who help the poor through
charitable organizations can't. Teachers who volunteer to teach English
as a second language to immigrants can't. No one else can. Why do we
artists continually think we should be a privileged class and be able
to??? The logic totally escapes me.
End of rant. Sorry about that, but this one mystifies me every time it
comes up.
Regards,
John
Steve Slatin on sun 17 apr 05
John --
Under current tax law, you may deduct the cost to you
of the thing you donate, or its fair market price,
whichever is lower. (See IRS Publication 526 for
further info.)
The tax law is already rife with scandal on the issue
of charitable donation (like the dodge where people
'donate' a dead car rather than pay to get it towed
away, then write off the typical retail cost of a
good-condition vehicle). If the law is changed as
proposed, for a year or two no writer, painter,
potter, or sculptor will have to pay any tax at all on
their craft/art income. Then the Congress will figure
out just how stupid the law is and change it back.
If doctors, lawyers, teachers and meachanics should
obtain similar legal benefits, then tax proceeds to
the government will drop even further. (Point worth
noting -- many physicians are in the 35% bracket. In
my part of the country, medicare/medicaid
reimbursements are LESS than 25% of the quoted price
for many medical treatments. Reimbursements under
Blue Cross run about 50-55% of quoted pricing.)
And wealthy lawyers will game the system and reduce
their tax bill by 'donating' their advice at their
conferences/golf vacations on Maui.
There are special rules about donation of inherited
items and shares of stock. They are off-topic in this
forum, so I'll stop here.
Best wishes -- Steve Slatin
--- John Jensen wrote:
> Help me please with my confusion. If I contribute a
> piece of artwork to a
> charity auction and the piece sells for a certain
> sum, may I or may I not
> deduct that sum from my taxable income;
Steve Slatin -- Pump don't work 'cause vandals got the handles.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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Craig Clark on sun 17 apr 05
John, I'm not sure whether you were looking for a simple yes/no
answer or if your question is retorical. In the case of the former, no
you are not allowed to deduct the fair market value of your piece. THe
only thing that you may deduct is the cost of the materials that went
into the the piece. You can't figure in labor cost either if you are
thinking about doing that. Yeah, yeah, I know.....the whoop-d-whoops get
wined and dined, get work at a discount, and get to deduct thier
"charitable" contributions.Craftsmen/artists get the shaft. Kinda
sucks. IT just ain't right, by gawd! I keep giving to my favorite causes
none the less.
Hope this helps
Craig Dunn Clark
619 East 11 1/2 st
Houston, Texas 77008
(713)861-2083
mudman@hal-pc.org
John Hesselberth on sun 17 apr 05
Hi John,
See below.
On Sunday, April 17, 2005, at 10:15 AM, John Jensen wrote:
> If I contribute a piece of artwork to a
> charity auction and the piece sells for a certain sum, may I or may I
> not
> deduct that sum from my taxable income; or in some way list it as a
> charitable contribution.
No, you can only deduct your out-of-pocket cost for materials, etc.
--which you have probably already deducted as a business expense. You
cannot deduct them twice.
> The fair market value of it has been established
> by the actual sale. If I contribute something I did not make, such as
> an
> automobile or a painting I had inherited (for example) I could list
> these at
> some established fair market value.
> I can't quite understand why my having made the piece would make it
> different from a piece I otherwise owned.
The piece you bought with money is different because you, at some
earlier time, declared that money as income and were taxed on it. You
did not declare as income the value of the piece you made and donated
so you cannot deduct its fair market value.
Regards,
John
JoyceLee on mon 18 apr 05
ok
>
> From: John Hesselberth
> Date: 2005/04/17 Sun PM 05:25:58 PDT
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: FW: Artist Deduction Bill
>
> Hi John,
>
> See below.
> On Sunday, April 17, 2005, at 10:15 AM, John Jensen wrote:
>
> > If I contribute a piece of artwork to a
> > charity auction and the piece sells for a certain sum, may I or may I
> > not
> > deduct that sum from my taxable income; or in some way list it as a
> > charitable contribution.
>
> No, you can only deduct your out-of-pocket cost for materials, etc.
> --which you have probably already deducted as a business expense. You
> cannot deduct them twice.
> > The fair market value of it has been established
> > by the actual sale. If I contribute something I did not make, such as
> > an
> > automobile or a painting I had inherited (for example) I could list
> > these at
> > some established fair market value.
> > I can't quite understand why my having made the piece would make it
> > different from a piece I otherwise owned.
>
> The piece you bought with money is different because you, at some
> earlier time, declared that money as income and were taxed on it. You
> did not declare as income the value of the piece you made and donated
> so you cannot deduct its fair market value.
>
> Regards,
>
> John
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
Cindy in SD on mon 18 apr 05
Hi, John
I've always felt the same way, once I understood that we, as artists,
were not being singled out and treated differently from other people who
donate their time. One thing that always annoys me is that when people
contact me to ask for donations, they often tell me, "and it's
deductible!". Many of the people who say this sort of thing are artists
themselves, and have been deducting the retail value of their work. I
always feel compelled to explain: We can deduct the cost of materials,
however, most of us are already deducting that when we write off our
business expenses, so we can't deduct it twice. Net result: no
deduction. Give if you want to give--not to get a deduction.
I'm all for deductions, and for volunteering. I think doctors, lawyers,
shelter workers, artists, and everyone else should be allowed to deduct
the fair market value of their time, but the tax code is already
sufficiently complicated. I'm pulling for a consumption (sales) tax with
built-in protections for the poor. That way, we all *see* the tax every
time we go to the dime store; we all (even the illegal operators amongst
us) pay the tax; and we're not penalized for success. But that's
unrelated--end of rant.
We artists aren't going to get special treatment on this tax deduction
thing. If anyone else manages to finagle it, then we might ride in on
their coattails, but we are probably not influential enough to do it on
our own, and we shouldn't be able to get it on our own. If we get
deductions for time spent, everyone should get the same deductions.
Cindy in SD
Patricia Harden on mon 18 apr 05
You may deduct the fair market value of art you bought or traded and then
donate to charity. If you created it, you may only deduct cost of
materials. Patricia
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Slatin"
To:
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Artist Deduction Bill
> John --
>
> Under current tax law, you may deduct the cost to you
> of the thing you donate, or its fair market price,
> whichever is lower. (See IRS Publication 526 for
> further info.)
>
> The tax law is already rife with scandal on the issue
> of charitable donation (like the dodge where people
> 'donate' a dead car rather than pay to get it towed
> away, then write off the typical retail cost of a
> good-condition vehicle). If the law is changed as
> proposed, for a year or two no writer, painter,
> potter, or sculptor will have to pay any tax at all on
> their craft/art income. Then the Congress will figure
> out just how stupid the law is and change it back.
>
> If doctors, lawyers, teachers and meachanics should
> obtain similar legal benefits, then tax proceeds to
> the government will drop even further. (Point worth
> noting -- many physicians are in the 35% bracket. In
> my part of the country, medicare/medicaid
> reimbursements are LESS than 25% of the quoted price
> for many medical treatments. Reimbursements under
> Blue Cross run about 50-55% of quoted pricing.)
> And wealthy lawyers will game the system and reduce
> their tax bill by 'donating' their advice at their
> conferences/golf vacations on Maui.
>
> There are special rules about donation of inherited
> items and shares of stock. They are off-topic in this
> forum, so I'll stop here.
>
> Best wishes -- Steve Slatin
>
>
> --- John Jensen wrote:
> > Help me please with my confusion. If I contribute a
> > piece of artwork to a
> > charity auction and the piece sells for a certain
> > sum, may I or may I not
> > deduct that sum from my taxable income;
>
> Steve Slatin -- Pump don't work 'cause vandals got the handles.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Maxwell, Deborah on tue 19 apr 05
Thanks for the information and the education!
djbm
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Linda
Arbuckle
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 11:50 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: FW: Artist Deduction Bill
Hello Everyone,
Karen Koblitz, CA majolica artist, forwarded this to me from Susan
Kileen, Executive Director, Hawaii Consortium for the Arts.
The web link below will help you identify your reps and provides copy
for you to send should you wish to use their wording. You can e-mail
your senator and rep about this. I think it's important. A collector who
buys your work and donates to a non-profit may deduct the price of the
work. Artists may only deduct the cost of materials. Most of us are
philanthropic, but the studio overhead and time we put into the work are
the more significant part of the value of the work. Please consider
taking the time to send a note on this. All you need is your zipcode.
Linda Arbuckle
14716 SE 9th Terr
Micanopy, FL 32667
(352) 466-3520
L.arbuckle@att.net
http://www.arts.ufl.edu/artex02/html/ceramics/arbuckle.html
____________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On April 12, Reps. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) issued a
"Dear Colleague" letter that went to all members of the U.S. House of
Representatives, asking them to cosponsor H.R. 1120, the Artists'
Contribution to American Heritage Act of 2005. As you may know, this is
the legislation that would allow artists to take a tax deduction for the
fair market value of works that they contribute to arts organizations
*that will use the works, not sell them for cash*. Under current law, an
artist may take a deduction for the cost of materials rather than the
work's true value, whether the recipient keeps the work or not. The
letter will be posted to the Americans for the Arts site tomorrow.
Now is the time for you to ask your House members to cosponsor the bill.
We've put a message on our Capwiz site that you can use - that alert can
be found here:
http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=3D7155976
=
&type=3DCO
In the last Congress, the bill got 103 co-sponsors. We'd like to get
more this time around! Thanks.
________________________________________________________________________
______
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
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