Senator urges backing of arts measure

Art Business News, April, 2006

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) urged Senate and House conferees working on the tax relief bill to retain Senate language that would ensure fairness for artists who donate their work to charity.

Section 208 of the tax reconciliation bill (H.R. 4297), which passed the Senate yesterday, contains a provision originally authored by Domenici in his Arts and Collectibles Capital Gains Tax Treatment Parity Act (S. 1186) that would allow a tax deduction equal to the fair market value of artwork by the artist. Currently, only collectors receive such deductions.

Domenici authored a letter signed by a bipartisan group of senators to the leaders of the Senate-House conference committee, which will finalize the tax relief bill.

"The current tax code treats artists unfairly, Domenici said. "If an artist wants to donate his or her work to a museum, under the current code the only tax deduction available would be for the cost of the art supplies. If a collector wants to donate that same piece to the same museum, the collector would receive a deduction equal to the fair market value of the art. The provision in this tax bill eliminates this disincentive for artists to donate their works, and I believe it should be retained in the final version of the tax reconciliation bill."