Principal Issues: 1. Can a donation receipt be issued to a person other than the donor? 2. What are the consequences of transferring art to a person so that he or she can in turn gift to a registered charity? 3. Can artwork from an artist's inventory be transferred on a tax deferred basis to a spouse? 4. What are the consequences of gifting artwork from an artist's inventory to a registered charity?
Position: 1. No. 2. The transfer to the charity is not a gift by the person, therefore the person is not entitled to a tax credit. 3. Disposition of an artist's inventory to his or her spouse will result in proceeds equal to fair market value for Canadian tax purposes. 4. Where an individual makes a gift to a qualified donee of a work of art that is inventory, the individual may designate an amount under subsection 118.1(7) which will be deemed to be the individual's proceeds of disposition and the fair market value of the gift. The designated amount cannot be greater than the fair market value of the property, nor less than its cost amount.
Reasons: 1. ITA reg. 3501, a donation receipt can only be issued to the donor. 2. To qualify as a "gift", a transfer of property must be voluntary. 3. Tax deferred transfer provisions under subsection 73(1) not applicable to property other than capital property 4. Subsection 118.1(7)