IRS Issues (Ever So Slightly) Revised Form 8283

Effective December 1, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service has pretty much just tweaked its Form 8283, which pertains to certain noncash charitable contributions. The form was last revised in December of 2006. View the new version. 

A handful of changes address gifts of vehicles.  The only other changes reflect fairly subtle rewording of the “Declaration of Appraiser” portion on page 2 of the form.

In a number of respects, the instructions for the form have also been revised. While some changes cover the additional content regarding vehicles, most are deletions of transitional guidance that was relevant to donors circa 2006. A few other changes provide useful information about matters such as easements on buildings in historic districts, qualified conservation contributions, and the role played by the form in the overall process of a donor claiming his or her charitable deduction.  View the new instructions.

Probably most significant is what did not change. One of the most common situations in which the form comes into play is when a donor makes an outright gift of publicly-traded securities.  In such an instance, it continues to be the case that only Section A needs to be completed.  Likewise, the “Donee Acknowledgment” portion of Section B still does not recognize the possibility that the donor has made a gift to a charitable remainder trust or a pooled income fund. 

Perhaps the IRS will tackle this issue the next time it revises the form.