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At the time petitioners made their donations, under Cali-
fornia law it was illegal to sell any mounted animal specimens
similar to petitioners' that were taken under a hunting license.
Under Federal law, the interstate sale of any specimen sold in
violation of California law constituted a Federal offense.
However, despite these State and Federal restrictions, game
mounts were sold in California. Further, while California has
strict prohibitions on the sale of mounted wildlife, many of the
Western States located near California, such as New Mexico,
Arizona, Montana, and Washington, have relatively few restric-
tions on the sale of mounted game trophies.
On their Federal income tax returns, petitioners based the
value of their contributions on appraisals performed by R. Bruce
Duncan (Mr. Duncan) of Chicago Appraisers Association (CAA).
Petitioners Robson paid CAA $4,323.52, $3,710, and $4,166 in
1990, 1991, and 1992 and claimed deductions for these amounts
each year. Petitioners Trnavsky also claimed deductions for
appraisal fees paid to CAA of $3,891.48, $3,140, and $3,333 for
1990, 1991, and 1992, respectively. At trial, however,
Mr. Duncan was not called as a witness, and petitioners did not
rely on his appraisals at trial. Rather, petitioners now rely on
the appraisal and testimony of Jack Perry (Mr. Perry), their
expert witness at trial.
Respondent, in her notice of deficiency to petitioners
Robson, disallowed all charitable contribution deductions for
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Last modified: May 25, 2011