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Giving Back

Giving Back

When a loved one is lost to Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or another debilitating disease, the surviving family members are often devastated. They want to move on. One factor in moving forward is what to do with the medical equipment left behind.

In some cases, this medical equipment can cost tens of thousands of dollars new. That being said, the used marketplace is often limited and selling the equipment can be a long process.

As this is the case, the decision is often made to donate the equipment. This is a win-win situation in that someone in need who cannot obtain such equipment due to cost or other issues can utilize the equipment and the person making the donation gets a tax deduction.

According to IRS regulations, anytime the Fair Market Value of a donated tangible asset is greater than $5,000 an appraisal must be performed.

The Appraiser performing the appraisal needs to fully understand the used marketplace for the equipment as well as the various requirements of the IRS.

In many cases, the person donating the items have never been through an appraisal process and thus, they may need some education and guidance. In order to understand the appraisal and the process, they need to be educated on the marketplace and the various steps they need to take. As such, the appraiser often becomes an advisor as well as a valuer.

Over the years, our firm has performed donation valuations of many different types of durable medical equipment for this purpose including, but not limited to:

  • Powered wheelchairs

  • Manual wheelchairs

  • Speech generating devices and eye tracking devices

  • Scooters

  • Hospital beds

  • Wheelchair capable vans

  • Patient lifts

  • Walkers

  • Suction units

In performing these valuations, we review and analyze current asking prices and the current marketplace for each of the items being donated.

We then develop a USPAP and IRS compliant appraisal report. In addition, we provide the required IRS form 8283 (Noncash Charitable Contributions) with the appropriate valuation related sections filled out. We then advise them on the steps needed in order to complete the remainder of the sections. We do not give legal or tax advice but review the process required.

Valcon Partners, Ltd has developed a partnership with The ALS Association in various states to perform appraisals of items to be donated at no cost.

It is our philosophy that if someone is generous enough to donate the equipment for someone else to use, we can “donate” the time to do the appraisal.

To learn more about donating to the ALS Greater Chicago Chapter, click here:

https://secure2.convio.net/alsa/site/SPageServer?pagename=CHI_Equipment_Donation_Page.html

Even though this is just for the ALS Greater Chicago Chapter, the process and much of the information is the same for any of the ALS local chapters.