Art collector denied deduction without substantiation
A life-long collector and dealer of African art, who worked for several years as the director of African art for the Southeby’s auction firm, has been denied a charitable contribution deduction for a gift of art that was not substantiated by a qualified appraisal and not excused by “reasonable cause and not willful neglect.” Heinrich Schweizer was born in Germany to parents who were both artists. He began collecting African art at an early age. After earning a law degree in Germany, he took an internship in New York at Southeby’s and later served as its director of African and Oceanic art from 2006 to 2015. Part of his job included advising customers of estimates of the value of their art...
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