ARE ANTIQUE SHOPS AND ART GALLERIES QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL APPRAISERS?
The kind of appraisal that will stand up in court and under IRS scrutiny is one that is well researched and documented by competent scholarship. It will be well reasoned in writing, organized according to USPAP standards, and documented according to verifiable data. While commercial art galleries can assist a professional appraiser, providing market records for artists and artwork they sell, few commercial galleries are qualified to authenticate, evaluate, describe or analyze the market for works of art outside the specific fields in which they deal. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has very specific and detailed guidelines for what it defines as “qualified appraisers” for personal property. In IRS Publication #561 the definition of a qualified appraiser is clearly stated. The publication describes five (5) types of individuals who cannot be qualified appraisers. These five types are those with potential conflicts of interest: a party to the transaction (the gallery who sold the prop
