The Artist–Museum Partnership Act is a United States bill that was proposed to amend the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986
The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), formally the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, is the domestic portion of federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 26 ...
to allow taxpayers who create literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions or similar property a
fair market value
The fair market value of property is the price at which it would change hands between a willing and informed buyer and seller. The term is used throughout the Internal Revenue Code, as well as in bankruptcy laws, in many state laws, and by several ...
(determined at the time of contribution) tax deduction for contributions of such properties, the copyrights thereon, or both, to certain
tax-exempt
Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
organizations, if such properties are properly appraised and are donated no sooner than 18 months after their creation. The bill would place limits on the amount of such deduction based upon the donor's artistic adjusted gross income, as defined by this Act.
The bill was first introduced to the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
by
Democratic Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
of
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
,
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, ...
on February 14, 2005. At that time the bill was referred to the
Committee on Finance. The measure has passed the Senate more than once in the past several years, but it still hasn't become law.
Current law
Under current law, artists who donate self-created works are only able to deduct the cost of supplies such as canvas, pen, paper and ink, which does not even come close to their true value. Prior to 1969, artists and collectors alike were able to take a deduction equivalent to the fair market value of a work, but Congress changed the law with respect to artists in the Tax Reform Act of 1969. Since then, fewer and fewer artists have donated their works to museums and cultural institutions.
Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy, Introduction Of The Artist-Museum Partnership Act Of 2007
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artist-Museum Partnership Act
Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress
United States proposed federal taxation legislation