New US tax schedules: impact on donation of collection

[exoticimports]

The 2018 US Federal Tax schedules greatly increase the standard deduction, meaning that the average taxpayer's typical deductions from donations are effectively useless.

We donated 20 vehicle loads to Goodwill, valued for taxes at $1500. Because of the standard deduction, it did about zero to lower our taxes. We should have sold it in lots on Ebay; in fact, we would have saved on gas, so it would have been a better financial decision to discard it in the rubbish.

A few years ago I audited and valued a 14,000 specimen collection, library, etc. at $70,000. As a donation, the deduction very much helped the donor / taxpayer. That was then, under the old federal tax plan.

So now I question the financial impact of donating my (or your) collection. There are many variables, but for the "Average Joe" with an average income and a typical collection, it appears there will be little if any tax implications. This is particularly so if one trickles out donated portions of the reference collection.

It was my plan to some day donate the entire collection, which includes commercial but expensive specimens as well as scientifically (but not financially) valuable specimens. Now I'm thinking it's far better financially to sell the expensive material. Scientific responsibility aside, shouldn't I get something for all my tens of thousands of dollars of expenses and tens of thousands of hours of work?

Your thoughts?

Chuck

[leptraps]

Upon my death, my collection in it's entirety goes to The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. Specimens, Cabinets, Drawers and all papered and frozen material.

My personal Library consisting books, journals, Newsletters and miscellaneous publications are to be sold. Spreading boards, pins, and miscellaneous equipment are also to be sold. All monies go to my estate.

I know that my collection will become part of the McGuire Centers Collection and will be used to advance the knowledge of the Lepidoptera, both in North America and globally.

Many years ago I knew an older gentleman that had a large collection. He past away several years later. I assumed the collection went to the Cleveland Natural History Museum. It did not. His widow left his collection room intact in his memory. By the time other Lepidopterist got involved, the dermestid had destroyed 50% of the collection. I had access to a walk in freezer. The remainder of the collection went into the freezer and was frozen for over a year.

Several of us salvaged what we could and was sold to a private collector. I purchased the cabinets and drawers.

Some great specimens were lost. What a waste. Make sure you make provisions for your collection in advance. Regardless of size, find a good home for your collection when your life ends.

The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera is a great place for your collection. Contact The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera in advance.

[jshuey]

People probably have mixed motives. No one that I know started a collection thinking that it was an investment - but then I don't really hang out with the crowd that buys and sells bugs on a regular basis. Most of my friends started collecting as a hobby, then it became a more serious thing that may have created either monetary or scientific value (or both). But I don't think anyone I know personally created a collection primarily because they thought is was worth money.

With me as an example - I honestly have no idea what I have invested in my collection. Quite a bit just based on travel alone - 44 trips that (I can remember)to the neotropics. Lately I've been hiring local collectors to chase South America skippers. Cabinets, drawers, pins, unit trays..., it all adds up. What did I get in return? The pure joy of traveling certainly exceeds whatever I spent on all this. Plus, the hours of satisfaction of building and curating the collection. I figure I'm already way ahead.

That said, I've already sold many of the "monetarily valuable" bugs I've owned - at least the North American ones. Mostly to generate the money used to hire local collectors in the Andes (who collect mostly "valueless" insects for me) as part of my effort to build a "scientifically valuable" collection biased towards Hesperiidae. (115 drawers and growing or ~1/3rd of my drawer space). I've built the collection to specifically compliment the the holdings at the USNM - the future home of the collection. I've worked to partial fill in some gaps in their geographic coverage as best as I can.

So, will the new tax laws change my mind? Did I even consider tax breaks when I started down this path some 40+ years ago? Would I sell off the Agrias and rare Papilionids I've collected over the years in the neotropics just to generate cash?

Nope, nope, and, nope. And I think my situation is probably typical for most field collectors. I've already extracted ample personal value though building the collection. And it gives me even more personal value knowing that it will be housed in a stable institution where it will contribute to research for centuries to come.

John