IRS and the Qualified Appraisal

On August 11 I posted a link on the AW blog to the new charitable donation IRS Guidelines regarding the Pension Protection act as published in the August 7, 2008 Code of Federal Regulations. Click HERE to read the AW post, along with a link to the code. I am not sure how many appraisers have read the new guidelines, but all should be aware of how the IRS is interpreting what a qualified appraiser and qualified appraisal are. Today's post is on the IRS definition of a qualified appraisal for charitable donations reports.

The updated and proposed guidelines state that a qualified appraisal is:

"an appraisal document that is prepared by a qualified appraiser in accordance with generally accepted appraisal standards. Generally accepted appraisal standards are defined in the proposed regulations as the substance and principles of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), as developed by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation. See Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, Public Law 101-73, 103 Stat. 183 (12 U.S.C. 3331-3351). The proposed regulations are similar to section 3.02(2) of Notice 2006-96, except that the proposed regulations require compliance with the substance and principles of USPAP."

In the past it may have appeared the IRS was hesitant to embrace USPAP standards. That no longer seems to be the case with the IRS calling a qualified appraisal one that requires the compliance with the substance and principles of USPAP. These are currently only guidelines and are not the final code. The IRS is now accepting comment on these proposed guidelines. Since the IRS is nearing the end of the final comment period, I would expect the final guidelines to be similar in content and form.