Re: Museum donations and internship project

I am a CPA licensed in Texas and actually I live in Dallas, so when you do come up this summer I can answer your tax questions and save you a few bucks. You can send me a message at james.durrenberger@yahoo.com. When you come to Dallas you should look at the other museums here too to get some more ideas. Here is the low down and my first impressions without knowing all the facts. First, since it is a loan I do not think there would any tax implications because ownership is not changing hands. Second, because the entity is a “historical institution” it is most likely a non-for-profit and therefore if you gave them the paraphernalia, the gift would probably be considered a “donation”. In that case you would need to determine the value of the property on the date of the donation. I would have an accredited expert in railroad paraphernalia perform an appraisal. On another point, think about protecting the paraphernalia from loss (fire/flood/theft). Find out if the historical institution has an insurance policy. I would see if you can have them cover your property under their umbrella policy. If they won’t, consider insuring the property yourself. In which case, I would still have an appraisal performed so you can create a schedule identifying each piece of property and its value.
These are just a few thoughts

James