Form 8283 is where a charitable gift of art, jewellery, a watch, a classic car or a case of wine meets the IRS. It looks like a paperwork form. It is really a valuation form, and the number on it has to be defensible. Here is how the form works, what the IRS requires at each dollar level, and the comparable sold prices a qualified appraisal is built on.
When you give property rather than cash to charity and your total noncash deduction for the year is more than $500, the IRS requires Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, filed with your return. For art and collectibles the form does two things: it describes what you gave, and it reports the fair market value (FMV) you are deducting. The whole machinery of the form, Section A or Section B, appraisal or no appraisal, attach or do not attach, is driven by one variable: the size of that FMV.
So the question underneath the form is never really "which box do I tick?" It is "is my fair market value defensible?" Get that right and the form follows. Get it wrong, too high, and it is exactly the figure the IRS challenges.
Publication 561 defines fair market value as:
"the price that property would sell for on the open market… the price that would be agreed on between a willing buyer and a willing seller, with neither being required to act, and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts."IRS Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property
Two consequences matter for a donation:
A defensible FMV, in other words, is real sold prices for pieces like yours, from the right time and the right market, not an opinion pulled from the air.
The IRS ties the paperwork to the size of your deduction, measured per item or per group of similar items. From the Instructions for Form 8283 and Publication 561:
| Your deduction | What the IRS requires |
|---|---|
| More than $500 | File Form 8283 with your return. |
| $500 up to $5,000 | Complete Form 8283, Section A. No formal qualified appraisal required. |
| More than $5,000 | Complete Form 8283, Section B, and obtain a written qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser. For art and collectibles this threshold is $5,000. |
| $20,000 or more (art) | Attach the complete signed qualified appraisal to your return. The IRS may request a high-resolution photograph. |
| $50,000 or more (art) | You may request a Statement of Value from the IRS before you file (Rev. Proc. 96-15, an advance review; it carries a user fee). |
| More than $500,000 (any single item) | You must attach the qualified appraisal to your return. |
Two practical notes the instructions stress. First, Form 8283 is an appraisal summary, not the appraisal itself; a separate written qualified appraisal is required for any gift valued over $5,000. Second, the thresholds look at groups of similar items as a whole: three prints at $2,000 each are a $6,000 group and cross into Section B, not three separate $2,000 gifts.
For a Section B gift, the appraisal has to be a qualified appraisal prepared by a qualified appraiser, as those terms are defined in the Treasury regulations. In outline, a qualified appraiser is someone with verifiable education and experience valuing the type of property in question, an appraisal designation from a recognised body or equivalent education plus experience, who regularly performs appraisals for pay and is independent of the donor, the donee and the transaction. The appraisal itself must follow generally accepted standards (consistent with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) and be prepared for income-tax purposes.
None of that is something a data provider can be or do. What the appraiser needs underneath the opinion is evidence: the comparable sales the value rests on. That is the layer we supply.
Section B carries two signatures beyond your own, and people misread both.
This is the detail that catches people at the deadline. A qualified appraisal must be signed and dated by the appraiser no earlier than 60 days before the date you give the piece, and no later than your return's due date (including extensions). And the gift itself must be completed by December 31 to count for this tax year.
In plain terms: line up your appraiser now, not in January. The 60-day window and the December 31 gift deadline do not wait, and the comparable sales that support the value have to be in hand when the appraisal is written.
Everything above rests on one thing the IRS says explicitly: comparable sales are central to fair market value, weighted by similarity, date, arm's-length conditions and market. That is exactly what real auction results give you, and exactly what an asking price, a dealer's offer or an insurance schedule do not.
Take a watch donated to a museum foundation. A defensible value for a Patek Philippe reference is not a number from a forum or a retail list; it is what that reference actually hammered for, the low, the median and the high of the matched sales, over the right period, across the major houses. That range, with the lots behind it, is the evidence the qualified appraisal stands on.
ALT/FNDATA is that evidence layer. We hold 19M+ realised auction results across watches, jewellery, art, classic cars, wine and 12+ more categories: real sold prices, 650+ houses, 20+ years, 27 currencies. For any item we show the comparable sold prices, the low, median and high, and the value as of any past date, from the sales that existed then. You, or your appraiser, can export the comps, the range and the method straight into the appraisal report that supports Form 8283.
If your deduction for the item, or for a group of similar items, is more than $5,000, yes: you complete Form 8283 Section B and must obtain a written qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser. For a deduction of more than $500 up to $5,000 you complete Section A and do not need the formal qualified appraisal. Confirm the specifics with your appraiser and CPA.
For art, you attach the complete signed qualified appraisal when the claimed deduction is $20,000 or more, and the IRS may ask for a high-resolution photograph. For any single item valued at more than $500,000 you must attach the appraisal. These are in addition to completing Form 8283 Section B.
No. The donee organisation signs Part V of Section B to acknowledge it received the property. The IRS instructions state the signature does not represent agreement with the appraised value. The fair market value still has to stand on its own evidence, which is why comparable sold prices matter.
For an item of art appraised at $50,000 or more, you may ask the IRS for a Statement of Value under Revenue Procedure 96-15 before you file, an advance review of the claimed value. It carries a user fee. Your advisor can tell you whether it is worth requesting for a given piece.
See the real comparable sold prices behind any piece, free. If you prepare or review Form 8283 files, the full dataset, values as of any date and exportable reports are built for you.
ALT/FNDATA offers market data on an "as-is" basis and does not provide tax, legal or investment advice. Data is for informational purposes only. ALT/FNDATA is not a qualified appraiser for IRS purposes; a qualified appraisal must be prepared by a qualified appraiser as defined in Treasury Regulation §1.170A-17, and Form 8283 is an appraisal summary, not an appraisal. Confirm all tax matters with your own appraiser, CPA or attorney. Last reviewed November 2026 against the IRS Instructions for Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025) and Publication 561 (Rev. December 2025).
