Charitable Donation Real Estate Appraisal: The Qualified Appraisal Behind a Form 8283

When a house or land is donated to a charity and the deduction falls under Section B of Form 8283, the donor needs a separate written qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser. The IRS instructions say plainly that "Form 8283 is an appraisal summary. It is not an appraisal." The appraisal is the report behind the form: a market value opinion as of the contribution date, prepared under USPAP and containing the items the regulation lists. The appraiser signs Part IV of the form, the charity signs Part V, and your CPA or attorney decides how the value is used. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.

What makes an appraisal "qualified"

A qualified appraisal, under 26 CFR 1.170A-17, is an appraisal document prepared by a qualified appraiser "in accordance with generally accepted appraisal standards," which the regulation defines as the substance and principles of USPAP, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. The regulation then lists what the document must include:

• A description of the property detailed enough that someone unfamiliar with it could tell it is the donated property, and, for real property, its condition.
• The valuation effective date, which the regulation defines as "the date to which the value opinion applies," and the fair market value on that date.
• The terms of any agreement between donor and charity about the use, sale or disposition of the property, such as a restriction on resale.
• The date, or expected date, of the contribution.
• The appraiser's name, address and taxpayer identification number, with the appraiser's education and experience in valuing this type of property.
• The appraiser's signature and the date signed, and a declaration, worded in the regulation, that the appraiser understands the appraisal will be used with a return and the penalties that can follow a valuation misstatement.
• A statement that the appraisal was prepared for income tax purposes.
• The method used, such as the market-data or income approach, and "the specific basis for the valuation, such as specific comparable sales transactions."

Publication 561 adds the real estate detail. The report "must contain a complete description of the property," including street address, legal description, physical features, condition and dimensions, along with its use, zoning and permitted uses. Comparable sales are adjusted for "differences in date of sale, size, condition, and location," and the publication says the appraiser "should document each item of adjustment."

Who counts as a qualified appraiser

A qualified appraiser, in the regulation's words, is "an individual with verifiable education and experience in valuing the type of property for which the appraisal is performed." The Form 8283 instructions summarize the test: either a recognized designation from a generally recognized appraiser organization, or qualifying coursework plus two or more years of experience in valuing the type of property; regular paid appraisal work; and a declaration in the report, with the education and experience stated. Whether a given appraiser meets that definition is read from the report itself, and the donor's CPA confirms it before the engagement.

The regulation also lists people who cannot be the qualified appraiser for the property: the donor, the charity receiving it, a party to the transaction in which the donor acquired it (with a narrow exception), people related to or employed by those parties, and anyone paid a prohibited fee.

The fee and the timing

The regulation says: "The fee for a qualified appraisal cannot be based to any extent on the appraised value of the property." The Form 8283 instructions repeat that appraisal fees "cannot be based on a percentage of the appraised value." Here, the fee is set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins, and it does not depend on the value.

Timing comes from the same sources. The instructions say the appraisal must be "signed and dated by a qualified appraiser not earlier than 60 days before the date you contribute the property," and that the donor must receive it before the due date, including extensions, of the return on which the deduction is first claimed. The regulation adds the effective-date rule: a report dated after the contribution uses the date of the contribution as its valuation effective date. Publication 561 says the date of a contribution is ordinarily the date the property is delivered to the charity or the title transfer date. The CPA sets the dates; confirm them on the IRS pages.

Who signs what on Form 8283

PartWho completes itWhat the instructions say

Part I

The donor

Describes the property; for real property, its physical condition at the time of the gift.

Part IV, Declaration of Appraiser

The qualified appraiser

Each appraiser's taxpayer identification number is entered here. If more than one appraiser contributes, all sign.

Part V, Donee Acknowledgment

The charity

Signed by an official authorized to sign the organization's tax returns, or a person specifically designated to sign Form 8283.

The instructions also say that if the charity disposes of the property within three years after receiving it, the charity files Form 8282 with the IRS and sends a copy to the donor. Generally the appraisal itself is kept with the donor's records rather than attached to the return, with exceptions the instructions list; the regulation says the donor keeps it as long as it may be relevant.

Donations a residential appraisal may involve

• A house near the Colleges in Claremont. A pre-1940 home whose original detail, raised foundation and later additions are described as they stood on the contribution date, compared with sales of its own era.
• Vacant land toward Padua Hills. Publication 561 lists what to weigh for land: location, size and zoning; access and road frontage; utilities and water rights; existing easements; soil and vegetative cover. In the foothills, view, grade and access decide which land sales compare.
• A rental house in Upland with a tenant in place. The lease is part of the property's description because it bears on what a buyer would pay; any separate agreement between donor and charity about the house's use or sale is listed as the regulation requires.
• A remainder interest in a personal residence. The Form 8283 instructions name it as a partial-interest gift reported in Section B, and the regulation says the appraisal "must be of the partial interest." A remainder interest, the right to own the property after a life estate ends, is valued using IRS actuarial tables according to Publication 561. The CPA scopes this before the engagement.

A bargain sale, a sale to a charity for less than market value, still needs the market value stated; what the difference means is the CPA's question. A conservation easement donation calls for an appraiser with experience in that property type, as 26 CFR 1.170A-17 requires. The Claremont area page describes the pockets these properties sit in.

What does not stand in for the qualified appraisal

The county assessment is the taxable value under California's assessment rules and is not an appraisal; Publication 561 lists a comparable sale's assessed value as one data point the appraisal reports, not as the value. An agent's CMA, an opinion of likely list price, is not an appraisal, and neither is an automated estimate.

Related reading

A gift of real estate to family follows different rules, covered in what the CPA needs when a Claremont house changes hands. The list CPAs bring to every tax-purpose file is in appraisals for gift, donation and tax filings, and the gift, charitable and tax-purpose appraisals hub collects the series.

Next step

CPAs and attorneys can see how tax-purpose reports are set up on appraisals for attorneys, CPAs and fiduciaries, or call (909) 324-6122 with the property, the planned contribution date and the CPA's name. The appraiser is independent of the donor, the charity and the CPA, including whoever pays.

Sources

• IRS, Instructions for Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025), accessed November 6, 2026
• 26 CFR 1.170A-17, Qualified appraisal and qualified appraiser, accessed November 6, 2026
• IRS, Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property (December 2025), accessed November 6, 2026
• The Appraisal Foundation, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), accessed November 6, 2026

Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.