- 46 -
stipulated that Rhett and Alice contributed a 4.57-percent
interest with a total value of $100,000.
Each couple claimed a charitable contribution deduction for
2001. In each instance, the Declaration of Appraiser attached to
the return referred to the letter dated November 19, 2001, from
Mr. Koehl to Rance wherein he opined that the value of Beneco as
of March 31, 2000, was $8.5 million. Mr. Koehl did not sign the
Declaration. Instead, Mr. Kramer wrote Mr. Koehl’s name in the
signature area designated for the “qualified appraiser”. Mr.
Koehl’s letter stating an $8.5 million value was attached to some
of the returns, but it was terse and fell far short of meeting
the summary appraisal requirements.
For 2002, Rhett and Alice’s return contained the description
of the donated property as “11.67% OF FLP BENECO STK”. The
Declaration of Appraiser in section B of Form 8283 was left
blank, and the Donee Acknowledgment portion was unsigned. The
Donee Acknowledgment stated that the donee was CCF; however, the
assignment document attached to the return indicated that the
donee was Crossmen Ministries. Typed on the assignment was
“$91,050" as the amount of the contribution. That amount,
however, was crossed out and “$123,750” was handwritten below it.
Only the assignment for Alice was attached to the return although
Rhett had apparently signed a similar document.
Under these circumstances we consider whether petitioners’
compliance was substantial or whether they failed to meet the
Page: Previous 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 Next
Last modified: March 27, 2008