A life-long collector and dealer of African art, who worked for several years as the director of African art for the Sotheby’s auction firm, has been denied a charitable contribution deduction for a gift of art that was not substantiated by a qualified appraisal and not excused by “reasonable cause and not willful neglect.”

Total assets held by donor advised funds across the country rose to $234.06 billion in 2021, an increase of 39.5% over the prior year, and continuing a steady annual increase in values from a total of $112.8 billion in 2017, according to the latest annual report from the National Philanthropic Trust issued in late November. 

A federal District Court in New York has granted a conditional class certification for Fair Labor Standards Act claims against a nonprofit dedicated to helping persons with disabilities, but has limited the class to direct service workers for which the plaintiff’s claims were “barely adequate.”

Three members of the board of a nonprofit homeowners’ association in Tennessee, a former director, and two other members of the association filed what they called a “derivative” action in 2018 against the association for the appointment of a receiver to administer the affairs of the organization.  The association moved to dismiss the case on the ground that the relief could be sought only in a “derivative” action brought on behalf of the corporation and that the plaintiffs had not met the requirements for bringing such a suit.

A husband and wife pair of farmers has been denied a charitable contribution deduction for a transfer of crops to a charitable remainder annuity trust, and the annual annuity payments they have received in return are subject to ordinary income tax, the Tax Court had held.