ARTnerships 2008
Artists Fight for
a Fair Shake
supporting passage of laws currently before the
U.S. Congress and the Senate in favor of Cultural
Abundance
Please support the
arts by going to the Americans for the Arts website
and registering to urge your Legislator to co-sponsor
the "Artist Deduction Bill" S. 548, offered
by Sens. Patrick Leahy and Robert Bennett, or H.R.
1524, offered by Reps. John Lewis and Jim Ramstad.
The two bills are identical. Most museums, libraries,
educational institutions and archives lack funds
to acquire works of art, relying instead on donations.
Unfortunately, however,
creators (Artists) cannot take a tax deduction for
the fair market value of works that they donate
and are instead limited to a deduction for the cost
of materials. Without incentive to give their works
to nonprofit institutions, creators generally sell
their works to private collectors, and the public
loses. This bipartisan legislation would simply
allow artists to take a fair-market value deduction
for works given to and retained by nonprofit institutions.
Please
visit the website.
It takes less than 2 minutes to complete the request.
If you are an artist
(composer, writer, etc), a representative of a charity
that asks artists to contribute, a museum or institution
that acquires public art for public good, or a citizen
who benefits from the work of our creative community,
contact your Senators
and send them this Letter (personalize as appropriate):
I am writing to
you in support of the "Artist Deduction Bill"
S. 548, offered by Sens. Patrick Leahy and Robert
Bennett, or H.R. 1524, offered by Reps. John Lewis
and Jim Ramstad.the "Artist-Museum Partnership
Act." As you may know, this legislation - introduced
last year by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont -
was incorporated as Section 308 of the Budget Reconciliation
Bill for Fiscal Year 2006 (S. 2020) as passed by
the Senate on November 18, 2005.
Prior to 1969 artists, composers and authors could
donate their works to a non-profit institution and
claim a tax deduction equal to the fair-market value
of the work. Under reforms adopted subsequent to
1969, they can deduct only the cost of materials
used to produce the donated work. Over the past
three decades, this has substantially reduced acquisitions
of donated art by museums and has diminished significantly
the benefit derived from the availability of works
of art in museums, libraries and other public institutions.
The "Artist-Museum Partnership Act" would
amend the Internal Revenue Code to restore the fair-market
value deduction that existed prior to 1969. The
revenue implications of the bill are extremely modest:
Sen. Leahy's office reports that when the measure
was scored for budgetary purposes, its estimated
cost was approximately $50 million over ten years.
In addition, S. 372 contains a number of safeguards
to prevent abuse, including:
·
Works of art must be created at least 18 months
prior to the date of contribution by the artist,
who must be a professional and have previously publicly
sold, performed or exhibited similar works;
· Artists must obtain a written appraisal
of the fair-market value of the work by a qualified
appraiser and attach the appraisal to their tax
return;
· The work must be relevant to the purpose
or function of the institution that receives it
(i.e., an artist cannot donate a painting to a homeless
shelter and claim a fair-market value deduction)
Therefore, when
House and Senate conferees meet to craft a final
version of the Budget Reconciliation Bill for Fiscal
Year 2006, I respectfully urge you to support retention
of the "Artist-Museum Partnership Act"
language - specifically, Sec. 308, "Enhanced
Deduction for Charitable Contribution of Literary,
Musical, Artistic, and Scholarly Compositions."
By doing so, you will restore a vital incentive
to support donations of significant works to museums
and other institutions and significantly enhance
our nation's artistic and cultural life.
Finally, the U.S.
Congress and Senate are considering changing thirty
year old tax laws which have unfairly relegated artists
to second class citizen status! The "Artist Deduction
Bill" S. 548, offered by Sens. Patrick Leahy
and Robert Bennett, or H.R. 1524, offered by Reps.
John Lewis and Jim Ramstad will make it possible for
an artist to receive a fair market deduction for a
donated work, provided it has been independently appraised.
If this bill were to pass, the benefits to society
would be literally monumental. With proper financial
incentives artists would be motivated to donate works
to libraries, schools, museums, charity art auctions,
etc., generating millions of dollars for an endless
variety of charities nationwide. Artists would receive
the same deduction as any citizen who donates valuables
to worthy causes. Currently, public awareness of this
bill is very low. People need to know that what's
at stake is deeper than the pockets of a few "starving"
artists. Passage of this bill will improve the quality
of life by making art more available and accessible
to all Americans. This bill is about cultural abundance!
Additional Background:
On June 16, 2000 the Wall Street Journal ran an article,
"How Death Makes the Taxman an Artful Dodger." It
noted the June 9th vote in the U.S. Congress to repeal
the estate tax (Clinton has since vetoed the bill).
The article went on to focus on the plight of the
artist whose work is taxed based on fair market value
when he dies. While the article, by Eric Gibson, was
comprehensive in it's exploration of the inherent
unfairness of the estate tax as it is applied to artists
(anyone whose creative efforts result in a tangible
product of some agreed upon value) it did not address
the plight of living artists who today can only deduct
the cost of materials when donating a work of art
to a non-profit organization.
In the early 1980s
Joseph Maniscalco organized artists nationwide to
demonstrate against estate tax treatment of all creative
people – painters, composers, writers, etc. The
current law stipulates that all unsold works of art,
musical compositions, novels, etc, remaining in the
estate of a deceased artist are evaluated at "fair
market value" for estate tax purposes in contrast
to those same works being evaluated at "cost of materials"
when donated by the artist to non-profit organizations.
This double standard arose when in 1969 the tax laws
were changed – in response to Nixon's donating
his papers to his own library and taking an exorbitantly
high deduction. Maniscalco's case was struck down
in the Court of Appeals, as it was in conflict with
the 1969 law. It is a loophole that has crippled fund
raising efforts for over 30 years! Now we have a chance
to win the fight for fairness and abundance!
What Can YOU do?
1) Write your Congressman
or Senator.
2) Participate or
even assist in organizing the October rally/demonstration
supporting passage of H.R. 3249 and S.2781, currently
before the U.S. Legislature.
Here's all you have
to do: Go to http://congress.org
It's easy! type in
your zip code and you will be prompted what to write
to each congressman. Following is a sample letter
to email to your congressman.
Dear Congressman/Senator
___________________ ,
I urge you to become
a cosponsor of "Artists' Contribution to American
Heritage Act of 1999," a bill that will have a major
impact on museums and libraries throughout the U.S.
H.R. 3249, introduced by Representatives Amo Houghton
and Ben Cardin, would allow artists, writers and composers
who donate their original work to a museum or library
to take a fair-market deduction. The same bill, S.2781
is now before the Senate.
Since the law was
rescinded in 1969 many American museums have lost
the opportunity to add the art of local, regional
and national artists whose work they cannot afford
to purchase. Since artists only can deduct the cost
of materials -- paint and canvas -- they often cannot
afford to donate their art, which is then sold to
private collectors and seldom seen by the public.
In addition, non-profit fund raising efforts are hindered
by artists not being able to afford to contribute
to art auctions. Meanwhile a collector of the same
work, who donates it, can deduct the fair-market value.
Safeguards such as requiring an appraisal are in place
to prevent abuse.
The bill has received
broad bipartisan support in the Ways and Means Committee
and is gaining wide popular support. I hope you will
add your name to those of your colleagues and let
me know that you have joined them in cosponsoring
H.R. 3249 or S.2781.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address, etc.]
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