Question

Scott, a qualified appraiser of fine art and other collectibles, was advising Delinda when she was determining the amount of the charitable contribution deduction for a gift of sculpture to a museum. Scott sanctioned a $160,000 appraisal, even though he knew that the market value of the piece was only $75,000. Delinda assured Scott that she had never been audited by the IRS and that the risk of the government questioning his appraisal was negligible. But Delinda was wrong, and her return was audited. The IRS used its own appraisers to set the value of the sculpture at $140,000. Delinda is in the 35% Federal income tax bracket, while Scott's fee for preparing the appraisal was $2,400.

a. Enter the penalty that the IRS can assess against Scott: $

b. Assume instead that the appraisers the IRS used set the value of the sculpture at $115,000. Enter the penalty amount: $

Answer 1