The Artists/Museum Partnership Act (S 2781 IS)
and the
Artist' Contribution to American Heritage Act (H.R. 3249)

Here is a copy of the Senate version of the bill:

S 2781 IS
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2781
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that a deduction
equal to fair market value shall be allowed for charitable contributions of
literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions created by the
donor.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 23, 2000
Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. BENNETT, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance

A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that a deduction
equal to fair market value shall be allowed for charitable contributions of
literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions created by the
donor.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Artist-Museum Partnership Act'.
SEC. 2. CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CERTAIN ITEMS CREATED BY THE
TAXPAYER.
(a) IN GENERAL- Subsection (e) of section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 (relating to certain contributions of ordinary income and capital
gain property) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
`(7) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS OF LITERARY, MUSICAL,
OR
ARTISTIC COMPOSITIONS-
`(A) IN GENERAL- In the case of a qualified artistic charitable
contribution--
`(i) the amount of such contribution shall be the fair market value of the
property contributed (determined at the time of such contribution), and
`(ii) no reduction in the amount of such contribution shall be made under
paragraph (1).
`(B) QUALIFIED ARTISTIC CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION- For purposes of this
paragraph, the term `qualified artistic charitable contribution' means a
charitable contribution of any literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly
composition, or similar property, or the copyright thereon (or both), but
only if--
`(i) such property was created by the personal efforts of the taxpayer
making such contribution no less than 18 months prior to such contribution,
`(ii) the taxpayer--
`(I) has received a qualified appraisal of the fair market value of such
property in accordance with the regulations under this section, and
`(II) attaches to the taxpayer's income tax return for the taxable year in
which such contribution was made a copy of such appraisal,
`(iii) the donee is an organization described in subsection (b)(1)(A),
`(iv) the use of such property by the donee is related to the purpose or
function constituting the basis for the donee's exemption under section 501
(or, in the case of a governmental unit, to any purpose or function
described under subsection (c)),
`(v) the taxpayer receives from the donee a written statement representing
that the donee's use of the property will be in accordance with the
provisions of clause (iv), and
`(vi) the written appraisal referred to in clause (ii) includes evidence of
the extent (if any) to which property created by the personal efforts of
the taxpayer and of the same type as the donated property is or has been--
`(I) owned, maintained, and displayed by organizations described in
subsection (b)(1)(A), and
`(II) sold to or exchanged by persons other than the taxpayer, donee, or
any related person (as defined in section 465(b)(3)(C)).
`(C) MAXIMUM DOLLAR LIMITATION; NO CARRYOVER OF INCREASED
DEDUCTION- The
increase in the deduction under this section by reason of this paragraph
for any taxable year--
`(i) shall not exceed the artistic adjusted gross income of the taxpayer
for such taxable year, and
`(ii) shall not be taken into account in determining the amount which may
be carried from such taxable year under subsection (d).
`(D) ARTISTIC ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME- For purposes of this paragraph, the
term `artistic adjusted gross income' means that portion of the adjusted
gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable year attributable to--
`(i) income from the sale or use of property created by the personal
efforts of the taxpayer which is of the same type as the donated property,
and
`(ii) income from teaching, lecturing, performing, or similar activity with
respect to property described in clause (i).
`(E) PARAGRAPH NOT TO APPLY TO CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS- Subparagraph
(A)
shall not apply to any charitable contribution of any letter, memorandum,
or similar property which was written, prepared, or produced by or for an
individual while the individual is an officer or employee of any person
(including any government agency or instrumentality) unless such letter,
memorandum, or similar property is entirely personal.
`(F) COPYRIGHT TREATED AS SEPARATE PROPERTY FOR PARTIAL INTEREST
RULE- In
the case of a qualified artistic charitable contribution, the tangible
literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly composition, or similar property
and the copyright on such work shall be treated as separate properties for
purposes of this paragraph and subsection (f)(3).'.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendment made by this section shall apply to
contributions made after the date of the enactment of this Act in taxable
years ending after such date.
END
************************************************************************
********************************

S.2781
Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. (introduced 6/23/2000)
Latest Major Action: 6/23/2000 Referred to Senate committee
Title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that a
deduction equal to fair market value shall be allowed for charitable
contributions of literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions
created by the donor.

TITLE(S): (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)
SHORT TITLE(S) AS INTRODUCED:
Artist-Museum Partnership Act
OFFICIAL TITLE AS INTRODUCED:
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that a
deduction equal to fair market value shall be allowed for charitable
contributions of literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions
created by the donor.

STATUS: (color indicates Senate actions)
6/23/2000:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

COMMITTEE(S):
Committee/Subcommittee: Activity:
Senate Finance Referral

RELATED BILL DETAILS:
***NONE***

AMENDMENT(S):
***NONE***

COSPONSORS(6), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by
date)
Sen Bennett, Robert F. - 6/23/2000 Sen Cochran, Thad - 7/20/2000 Sen Dodd,
Christopher J. - 7/18/2000
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. - 6/23/2000
Sen Lincoln, Blanche - 9/14/2000 Sen Reid, Harry M. - 9/19/2000

 

SUMMARY AS OF:
6/23/2000--Introduced.
Artist-Museum Partnership Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide
a fair market value (determined at time of contribution) deduction for
charitable contributions of literary, musical, artistic, scholarly
compositions, or the copyright created by a qualifying donor. Exempts
certain non-personal letters and memorandum from such treatment.
Limits such increased deduction to the donor's artistic adjusted income (as
defined by this Act).

Also, here is the article that appeared in the August 20th 2000 Worcester Telegram & Gazette. It discusses
efforts in congress to revise the 1969 law that allows artists to deduct only the material costs of their work.
The new law would allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work:

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