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May a 501(c)(3) college donate a horse to another charity if the horse was donated to the college and has not been there for 3 years? Is there any law or regulation on this item?

I am not aware of any general rule why one charity could not donate a horse (or any other personal property) that it received from a donor to another charity at any time.  The college in this case, however, would undoubtedly have to notify the Internal Revenue Service of the transfer within three years of receipt of the gift.

A charity that disposes of personal property for which a donor had to file a Form 8283 to claim a deduction (generally anything valued at more than $500) is required to file a Form 8282 if the recipient charity disposes of the property (other than by consumption in its charitable program) within three years of receipt of the gift.

Ordinarily a donor may deduct only the lower of fair market value or tax cost of personal property donated to a charity.  A donor can deduct an appreciated value only if the property has been held more than a year and will be used in the recipient’s charitable program.

If a charity files the Form 8282 on disposition and the donor claimed a deduction for an appreciated value, the IRS will presume that the property was not used in the charity’s program unless a charity official certifies that the property was actually used in its program or such use was intended but became infeasible.  If it was not used in the program, the donor will have to include in income in the year of the recipient’s disposition of the property any increase in value that he or she had claimed as a deduction.  (See Ready Reference Page:  “Congress Passes Charitable Reforms”)

1/19/2010