Avoid Underreporting the Value of Art

Recently, in Estate of Kollsman v. Commissioner,¹ the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Tax Court’s 2017 ruling that an art collector’s estate significantly underreported the value of two artworks for estate tax purposes. The appellate court found that the values reported by the estate were unpersuasive because the auction house specialist exaggerated the dirtiness of the paintings and failed to adjust his appraisals after one of the works sold at