I am planning to donate some O gauge trains to a museum for use on their large, operating train display. The trains were purchased maybe ten years ago and are in excellent condition (some never run). How do I determine their fair market value in today's market? Should I worry about what I can deduct on my next Federal tax return or just donate the trains and let the museum benefit from an infusion of new stock for visitors to enjoy. My dream of building a large train layout with six long, separate loops never got off the ground. Thank you in advance for any thoughts.
If you have a local hobby shop take them to them and ask them if they could give you a retail value on them as you plan to donate them to the museum and would like to use it as a tax credit. If you have a decent hobby shop they would be glad to do this for you.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
You can use a fair book price for tax purposes. Do some homework before you donate, many museums sell off un-needed items for cash. Which of course still is a benefit but that might not be your intended purpose.
S.J.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Visit www.mitrains.com you can open an account for free and input your items. MItrains has links to the train values and you can generate a report with the value of your trains that should be fine with the IRS.
Thank you.
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