In order to take a deduction for app. $20,000 of classic camera equipment, what kind of valuation proof do I need?

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

 For a charity donation valued at more than $5000 for a single item or group of similar items, you need a signed appraisal by a qualified appraiser.  You also need a copy of form 8323 that is signed by the appraiser and by a financially responsible official from the charity that accepts the items.   You can still file your taxes electronically because TurboTax will prepare an electronic version of form 8323, but you will then also need to mail the signed original form to the IRS after you e-file.  

[Opus 17]

Actually, I realized this is only half the answer.

You also need to documents how and when you acquired the items, and the price you paid or their other cost basis.

Then, the deduction you can take for some or all of the items will sometimes be lower than the appraised value.  If you are donating items of property that have *increased* in value from what you paid for them, then the deduction value you can claim is

a) the price you paid, if you are donating them for an unrelated purpose, or
b) the fair market value, but only if you are donating them for a "related purpose."

Donating camera equipement to a photography museum, non-profit photography club, or college photography department would be a related purposes and you can claim the full value.  Donating them for an unrelated purposes, such as to be sold at auction to raise money when the charity's purpose is not related to photography, means that you can only claim the item's cost.

(In all cases, if the item's fair market value is lower than the price you paid, you can only claim the current value.  And it doesn't matter what the charity will do with the items.  The rule above only applies for items that have increased in value.)

For items that you did not buy yourself, your "cost" is the price paid by the previous owner if the item was gift, or the fair market value on the date of the previous owner's death, if it was inherited.

[Mathilde]

Do you need to send a hard copy of the appraisal as well as form 8323?