View Research by Author - Ellen P. Aprill

Publications

In May 2012, the Tax Court issued two decisions denying income tax deductions for gifts to charitable organizations because they failed to meet the requirements for a qualified appraisal. These cases lit a firestorm of outrage in various circles, raising questions of how strictly substation rules should be applied. This paper reviews the rationales behind the charitable contribution substantiation rules, sets out the complicated regime regarding these rules and applicable case law, and presents a number of possible reforms. Balancing the need to control overvaluation with the need to encourage legitimate charitable contributions is a difficult but important challenge.

Two Tax Court decisions, including two from May 2012, demonstrate the concerns that arise both when the charitable contributions substantiation rules are strictly applied and when they are not. In order to address problems of valuation, the U.S. Congress has addressed the charitable substantiation rules five times in the past 30 years. Each time, Congress has strengthened the rules to try to prevent overvaluation, but the rules have not proved satisfactory. This brief suggests reasonable and fair reforms to substantiation rules.

Return to list of authors