Artist Deduction Bill before Congress

Two issues of interest to artists, one federal, and one in Washington State, are currently under consideration.

Federal legislation HR1126 and S405 known as the “House Artist Deduction Bill” has as its goal a long overdue leveling of the playing field for tax deductable donations of art between artists/creators and collectors. This legislation would allow artists to take a fair-market value deduction for works given to, and retained by, nonprofit institutions such as museums, libraries, arts organizations, and educational institutions. Current law is patently unequal in that collectors can deduct fair-market value for donations but artists are only allowed to deduct material costs, in other words the cost of paint and canvas, or of pen and paper. If passed, this bill would allow fair-market value tax deductions for donations of literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions created by the donor.