IRS Form 8283 Appraisals
Appraisals prepared specifically to support the qualified appraisal requirements of Form 8283.
IRS Form 8283 work has its own rules
Form 8283 Section B requires the signature of a qualified appraiser and a declaration meeting specific regulatory criteria. That declaration is completed and signed as part of the assignment.
Every report prepared for this purpose states its intended use and intended user explicitly, applies the value standard that purpose requires, and is signed by the appraiser who performed the work. That is not a courtesy — it is what makes the report usable by the party who has to accept it.
What Form 8283 actually is
Form 8283 is the noncash charitable contributions form. It is not the appraisal and it does not replace one — it is the disclosure that accompanies the deduction and, above the threshold, the page a qualified appraiser signs.
| Section A | Section B | |
|---|---|---|
| Applies when the deduction claimed is | $5,000 or less per item or group of similar items | More than $5,000 per item or group of similar items |
| Qualified appraisal required | No | Yes |
| Appraiser signs the form | No | Yes — the appraiser declaration |
| Donee acknowledges receipt | No | Yes |
Current revision: December 2025, which adds a digital assets checkbox in Section B, Part I.
The three signatures, and why filings fail
A Section B filing carries information from three parties, and the most common failures are procedural rather than substantive. The value was usually fine. Something else was missing.
| Failure | What it looks like afterwards |
|---|---|
| Items not aggregated as similar property | Several gifts each below $5,000 that together crossed it, filed in Section A with no appraisal |
| Appraisal dated outside the 60-day window | A sound report that does not satisfy the timing requirement |
| Appraiser declaration unsigned | An incomplete form; the appraisal exists but the filing does not show it |
| Donee acknowledgment missing | Same problem from the other side |
| Appraiser is an interested party | Not a qualified appraisal regardless of the quality of the work |
None of these is a valuation dispute. Each is avoidable by sequencing the engagement before the gift rather than after.
After the donation: Form 8282
The obligation does not always end at filing. A donee organisation that disposes of Section B property within a defined period is generally required to report the sale on Form 8282, which puts the realised price alongside the claimed value.
That is a reason for the appraisal to be defensible rather than flattering. A conclusion that cannot be reconciled with what the property actually fetched is the one a reviewer will ask about, and the appraiser who wrote it is the person who has to explain the difference.
What this page is not
This is a description of how the appraisal side of the requirement works. It is not tax advice, and the question of what you may deduct belongs to you and your tax adviser. An appraiser who tells you what your deduction will be has stepped outside the assignment.
Where this sits
The broader requirements are covered on charitable donation appraisals. The property most often involved is personal property or machinery and equipment. The free IRS donation requirements tool answers the threshold and section question in about a minute. Advisers filing for clients may prefer what we do for attorneys.
Common questions
Which section of Form 8283 applies to me?
Section A for donations claimed at $5,000 or less per item or group of similar items; Section B for more than $5,000 per item or group. Section B is the one requiring a qualified appraisal and an appraiser signature.
Who fills in which part?
The donor completes the identifying information about the property and the donation. For Section B the qualified appraiser signs the appraiser declaration, and the donee organisation signs the acknowledgment of receipt. Three parties touch the same page.
Does the appraisal get attached to the return?
For most Section B donations the completed Form 8283 is filed with the return and the appraisal itself is retained by the donor. Certain categories require the appraisal to be attached. Your tax preparer should confirm which applies to your filing.
What is the current version of the form?
Form 8283 Rev. December 2025, whose instructions are also dated December 2025. That revision adds a dedicated digital assets checkbox in Section B, Part I. Filing on a superseded revision invites avoidable correspondence.
Can one Form 8283 cover several donations?
Yes, and for similar items it generally must, because the threshold test applies to a group of similar items rather than to each gift separately.
What if the donee sells the property soon after?
A donee that disposes of Section B property within a defined period is generally required to file Form 8282 reporting the sale. A sale price well below the claimed value tends to attract attention, which is a reason for the appraisal to be defensible rather than optimistic.
Does the appraiser need to be independent of the donee?
The regulations exclude certain parties from acting as the qualified appraiser, including the donor, the donee and parties related to the transaction. An appraisal by an interested party is not a qualified appraisal however competent it is.
How long does this take?
The appraisal is quoted with a delivery date before work begins. The constraint that usually matters is the 60-day window relative to the contribution date, not the appraiser's calendar.
What if I have already filed without an appraisal?
That is a question for your tax adviser rather than an appraiser. What can be said is that obtaining a compliant appraisal later does not retroactively cure a timing failure, because the window runs from the contribution date.
Need a irs form 8283 appraisal?
Tell us the asset and the deadline. You get a fixed written quote, usually the same day.
What the work actually looks like
Real assignments, client details removed — what each engagement actually turned on, rather than how it felt.
A house, a workshop of machine tools, a forty-year firearms collection and a stake in the family company — four disciplines that three appraisers had only partly covered. One engagement, one effective date, one set of assumptions.
A donation the regulations would have aggregated past the appraisal threshold, which the donor had assessed item by item. One qualified appraisal covering the group, itemized, signed inside the window the regulations allow.
An opposing report whose number was not obviously wrong — which is what made it dangerous. It failed on its own certification, and was answered section by section with an independent valuation to the correct definition of value.