Current illustration: doubts about the value of a wooden statue bought at a Christie's auction by billionaire Marc Benioff for about $7.5 million and donated to a Hawaiian museum.
Is Benioff's purchase, at left, the equal of the similar statue in the British Museum at right? Or is it "the sort of thing you see in a tiki bar"?
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1 comment:
Pretty good comments on that article also.
The thing has some value as an object, I don't see why the age should matter so much for the value.
The article says “The I.R.S. generally won’t accept an auction receipt as an appraisal,” but I don't see why that should be so. If the transaction is between unrelated parties, a willing buyer and seller, the auction is the very best evidence of actual value. Even if the buyer paid extra in anticipation of tax benefits, the seller got the full amount and will be taxed on it. Of course, in this case the seller is not a U.S. citizen, so IRS won't get a cut.
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