What you can deduct, and who is allowed to decide it.
The sale sets the number. The paperwork is light under $5,000. Above that the IRS wants an appraisal we are not permitted to provide.
We do not tell you what your domain is worth
Nobody at Giving Center is a qualified appraiser, and a charity's estimate of its own gift carries no weight with the IRS. What the domain sells for is the honest measure of its fair market value, and that is what your deduction follows. We write to you when the name sells and tell you what it realized.
This is not us being unhelpful. A charity that hands donors a valuation is handing them a problem, because the deduction is the donor's to substantiate and the IRS looks at who prepared the number.
What you file, by amount
Under $500
Keep our written acknowledgment with your records. Nothing further is required.
$500 to $5,000
File Form 8283, Section A, with your return. It asks how and when you acquired the asset and what it cost you. No appraisal is required in this range.
Above $5,000
You need an independent qualified appraisal, and Form 8283 Section B, which we sign as the recipient charity. Our signature acknowledges receipt of the asset. It is not agreement with the appraised value.
If you intend to claim a deduction of more than $5,000 for a non-cash gift, the IRS requires an independent qualified appraisal. Obtaining it is the donor's responsibility and the donor's expense.
Giving Center cannot perform that appraisal, and no employee or representative of Giving Center may act as your appraiser. Anyone who tells you otherwise is putting your deduction at risk.
An automated estimate is not an appraisal
The free valuation tools attached to domain marketplaces produce an algorithmic estimate in seconds. They are useful for orientation — worth a hundred dollars or worth fifty thousand — and they are not what the IRS means by a qualified appraisal.
A qualified appraisal is a written report prepared by a qualified appraiser: someone with verifiable credentials and experience valuing this type of property, who is independent of both you and the charity, who signs the report and Form 8283, and who prepares it no earlier than 60 days before the gift. Expect to pay for it.
Where donors usually start
Comparable sales databases
Public records of what similar names have actually sold for. This is the same evidence a real appraiser reasons from, and it is the fastest way to find out whether your name is in the hundreds or the tens of thousands.
Marketplace valuation tools
The instant estimates offered by the large registrars and domain marketplaces. Free, fast, and wide of the mark on unusual names. Use them to set expectations, not to support a deduction.
Domain brokers
Brokers who sell names for a living will give you a considered view of what yours would fetch. That opinion is commercially useful, but a broker with an interest in the transaction is not an independent appraiser.
Independent qualified appraisers
Firms that specialize in intangible and intellectual property valuation and prepare reports intended for tax use. This is the route to take if you will claim more than $5,000. Ask directly whether the report meets the IRS qualified appraisal requirements and whether the appraiser will sign Form 8283.
We name categories rather than companies because we do not endorse or receive anything from any appraiser or marketplace. Your tax preparer is the right person to confirm that a given report will hold up.
This page describes how the process works. It is not tax advice and it is no substitute for your own tax professional.
Tell us about the asset
We reply within two business days. Sending this commits you to nothing.