HORSE APPRAISALS
HORSE APPRAISALS
"There is no dollar figure you can attach to love, no value on how something has changed your life and its loyalty but the outside world does everything in dollars and the more value something has, the more it will be revered and protected by the law, a sad fact about the world today"
the SWAP Executor
-For all horses where the owner/donor feels that the horse's estimated value is less than $300. then the value is set by the donor at the time of donation. (this is a new IRS law changed in 2007, it used to be $5000.)
-Regardless of whether you are a horse business owner or an individual horse owner, if you are giving a horse away for a tax write off or just giving it to an organization for placement or even to a friend and not taking a tax donation deduction, you need to know the value because taxes must be paid on all donations and gifts by the receiver, regardless of how they come to them and regardless of their tax status. Also its always critical for criminal and civil cases involving horses to know what the horse is worth, it is essential for a program like ours where the courts center their judgment around a horses value. Regardless, the IRS now requires appraisals for everything donated that is valued above $300.
-If you are donating to a 501c3 public charity or if you are donating to a private not for profit foundation that is not 501c3 and the tax write off is coming through them from another organization that is a 501c3, both are legal according to the law. One requires only an IRS form 8283 and one requires both an IRS form 8282 and 8283.
-If you own a horse business and the horse is in a depreciation schedule, then the most you can write off is the amount the horse was valued at on the depreciation schedule in the last year filed, never more than that even if the appraisal comes out to be more. That is an IRS rule, not SWAP's. Many times for professional horse business owners its just easier to show the horse as a business loss and that is how most of our professional business owners show their donation/gift, as a loss.
-For all horses where the owner/donor feels that they have an estimated value of $300. or more requires a horse appraisal by a certified and trained horse appraiser.
-SWAP's recommended certified horse appraiser is:
- Janet Geyer, SWAP Adopter/Foster mom and owner of Celebration Farm
- 9961 Green Valley Road, Union Branch, MD 21791
- 443-745-0207 or janetgeyer@aigene.com or jgeyer@ix.netcom.com
Appraisals completed by Janet are $175. (paid for by the owner/donor) which is a great price (we've seen appraisals of over $1000. so you want to be careful when you hire someone) and she does an excellent professional job. These appraisals are much like a real estate appraisal with price comparisons of horses of like ages, breed, training level, soundness, health and condition. Its really a very professional job.
As the owner, all you have to provide is the following to SWAP or Janet:
- -conformational pictures of every side and a close up of the head
- -a description of the horses condition and health, past training, injuries, mental or physical issues, height, color, breed, size and age.
- -a copy of the horses registration papers and pedigree, if available
- -insurance papers if the horse is insured
- -bill of sale or claiming papers if its a race horse that was claimed on the track
- -a video of the horse moving in hand and under saddle at all gaits, its not necessary that Janet see the horse in person
- -history of competition, breeding, a history of the horses sire and dam
Upon completion, a complete portfolio of the appraisal is sent to the owner. This can also be done for anyone (including adopters) who are insuring their adoption horses. The horse can be moved and donated to SWAP prior to receiving the final appraisal.
