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Under federal law governing donor-advised funds, it is not permissible for donors to split or “bifurcate” payments for tables or tickets when a portion of the purchase is not tax-deductible. This means that donors may not recommend a grant through a DAF or a private foundation for the deductible portions of a table or ticket purchase and then pay the non-deductible portion from a personal source.

If a portion of event admission is not tax-deductible, your DAF can support the event in the following ways:

• If you would like to attend an event and make an additional contribution, you may pay the full price of admission (non-deductible and deductible portions) from a personal source outside of your DAF. Then, you may recommend a grant from your DAF. Phoenix Art Museum is pleased to recognize both your personal and DAF contributions in all event-related materials.
• If you purchase a table or tickets and donate them back to the Museum (and do not attend the event), you may recommend a grant from your DAF or foundation, noting that the requested table or tickets shall be donated back to the Museum.

Grants from DAFs to cover annual Membership fees are acceptable if:

• The Membership benefits are limited to incidental annual benefits, such as free or discounted admission to low-cost events, parking, preferred access, and attendance at certain Members-only events.
• The donor waives all of the non-deductible (tangible) benefits the Membership level offers them.
• An important note on tangible benefits: Under federal law, if any portion of the Membership is not tax-deductible, you may either waive the tangible benefits or use a personal source to pay the entire Membership value. Bifurcation is not permissible.

If you expect your gift to be valued at more than $5,000, the IRS requires you to obtain a qualified appraisal and provides procedures for taxpayers to request a review of art valuations for income, estate, and gift returns. You may request from the IRS a Statement of Value for an advance review of art valuation claims prior to filing your return. You must submit an appraisal from a qualified independent appraiser and the appraisal must meet substantiation requirements. This statement can then be used in completing your tax return. The procedure usually applies to artwork appraised at $50,000 or more. Note that Phoenix Art Museum does not provide appraisals for art of any kind or any purpose.

Phoenix Art Museum will evaluate the gift to ensure it is appropriate for our collecting area and as an addition to our permanent collection. We may refuse a gift because the art may not fit within our collecting areas, is a duplicate or similar to works already in our collection, or is not of appropriate museum quality. Phoenix Art Museum collects in the areas of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, photography, and fashion design. Note that all gifts to our collection are subject to final approval by the Collections Committee of our Board of Trustees.

In the case of works requiring substantial ongoing maintenance or conservation, Phoenix Art Museum may only be able to accept artwork that is accompanied by an outright gift of cash or other assets to create an endowment to maintain the work.