Christiana Stamoulis - Page 11

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          those items.  We recognize that the determination of the fair               
          market value of an item involves an approximation, and is, at               
          best, an inexact science.  Stanley Works v. Commissioner, 87 T.C.           
          389, 407-408 (1986); see Colonial Fabrics v. Commissioner, 202              
          F.2d 105, 107 (2d Cir. 1953); Goldstein v. Commissioner, 89 T.C.            
          535, 544 (1987); Skripak v. Commissioner, 84 T.C. 285, 320                  
          (1985); Zmuda v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 714, 726 (1982), affd. 731           
          F.2d 1417 (9th Cir. 1984); Estate of DeBie v. Commissioner, 56              
          T.C. 876, 894 (1971); see also Cooley v. Commissioner, 33 T.C.              
          223, 225 (1959), affd. 283 F.2d 945 (2d Cir. 1960).  However, we            
          cannot ignore that, more often than not, personal items, like               
          used clothing and household items, will be worth far less than              
          their original purchase price immediately after they are                    
          purchased.  Furthermore, as best we can determine from                      
          petitioner’s testimony, the original costs of the donated items             
          shown on the Forms 8283 are themselves not actual costs, but only           
          estimates based upon petitioner’s  optimistic estimates of the              
          items’ fair market values.14                                                
               We cannot accept petitioner’s fair market value estimates of           
          the property that form the basis for a portion of the charitable            



          14  Petitioner testified that she first determined the fair                 
          market value of an item and then assumed that the cost of the               
          item was at least twice as much.                                            




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