Gifts of Personal Property
How It Works
- You transfer a valuable painting, antiques, or other personal property to New York University.
- NYU may hold and display the property or use it in the furtherance of its mission.
- NYU may sell the property at some point in the future and use the proceeds for its mission.
Benefits
- You receive an immediate income tax deduction for the appraised value of your gift and pay no capital gains tax, so long as the gift can be used by NYU to carry out its mission.
- In certain cases, you can use personal property to fund a life-income gift that provides you and/or other loved ones with an income now and benefits NYU in the future.
- Without using cash, you can make a gift that is immediately beneficial to New York University.
Please contact us so that we can assist you through every step of the process.
Questions and Answers
What are the tax benefits of donating personal property?
The key question to determine is whether or not your donation has a legitimate use related to the charitable mission of our organization. For example a gift of art work or a stamp collection can enhance an educational purpose; a gift of a piano or other musical instrument can enhance a musical program; a gift of kitchen equipment can enhance a feeding program, etc. If your gift is related to our charitable work then your income tax deduction is based on the fair market value of the property. For gifts of property with a value of $5,000 or more, an independent qualified appraisal of the property is required by the IRS.
If your gift of personal property has no relation to our charitable work, then your tax deduction is limited to your cost basis in the property. We suggest that you acquire IRS publications 526 and 561 to review all the comprehensive information available for gifts of personal property.
Can I arrange for a life income stream for my gift of personal property?
In some cases the answer is yes. Personal property can be transferred to a charitable remainder unitrust which will provide the donor with tax deduction benefits as well as setting up an income stream for beneficiaries such as a spouse, children and/or other loved ones. Only personal property with a value of $50,000 or greater should be considered for this purpose.
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