TCMP audit - latest IDR

[Gretel]

Pots and Pans

I am appalled that anyone can even consider that a person could make a profit on used household stuff. Nobody keeps receipts for this, this is just crazy. It is a different story if auditor thinks client is hiding something but this doesn't appear to be the case.

I refuse to advise my clients to keep receipts on such items but I also will stress the importance of having good records for all deposits.

[erchess]

Always Something New

My parents own, and I may eventually inherit, the following items:

A clay candle holder featuring a wall that once went half way around to reflect the light the other way and a handle in back so that it can be carried and used in the way we would use a flashilight. Part of the wall was broken off in use before my great grandmother was born. Family stories date this to before the Revolution and if that's right it is the oldest thing they own.

A huge chest of drawers for silver and linens that was made by a someone who worked during the Revolution for someone whose ancestor married into our family before the Civil War. The piece has some veneer in it and the veneer has been repaired at least once.

A loveseat made by a furniture maker in New York long before the Civil War and reupholstered shortly before the War.

A couch that is of uncertain age and origin but has upholstery that was put on it just before WW I.

It's clear that my parents' basis in these items would be their fair market value when my parents inherited them in I believe 1989. The problem is that there was no professional appraisal made and reconstructing such now would be the subject of endless argument. If my parents did want to sell any of them, does anyone have a reasonable alternative to paying tax on the entire proceeds? It seems to me that they have almost surely appreciated.