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Boat appraisals for charitable donation, prepared in accordance with IRS Form 8283 qualified appraisal requirements. AppraiseItNow provides USPAP-compliant fair market value reports for donated vessels, giving donors the documentation needed to support their deduction.
IRS Form 8283 QualifiedI love the online appraisal format… I love your professional service!
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT BOAT APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, RECEIVING CHARITIES, AND TAX PREPARERS.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Vehicle Appraiser
CAGA Certified Appraiser since 2014, covering vehicles, boats, equipment, fine art, and collectibles. A classic-car restoration background informs her vehicle work, with reports prepared for insurance, divorce, and charitable contributions.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsIRS Form 8283
Once the deduction you claim for donated boat passes $5,000, the IRS requires a qualified appraisal and Section B of Form 8283. We prepare the appraisal and complete the appraiser's part of the form.
A qualified appraisal is required for items reportable in Section B and in certain cases must be attached.
A donated boat is deducted at fair market value, so the appraisal has to describe one specific hull, with its own hours, condition, and equipment, on the date the charity received it. We appraise vessels of every class given to qualified organizations, and the report states exactly what came with the boat.
Vessels we appraise
Our appraisers value the full range of donated vessels:
What the gift includes
Vessels often transfer with gear that carries real value of its own, and the report has to say what was actually donated:
Effective date of value
A vessel's condition can change between a haul out and a handover, so the report names the date the value speaks to and describes the boat as it stood then. Work done after the donation, whether a repower or a repair, sits outside the conclusion.
Boat prices move with geography and with the calendar, so a single national figure is a weak place to start. We inspect the vessel, record the condition and equipment it actually carries, and support the conclusion with comparable sales, marine pricing guides, and the regional market conditions around the donation date.
Inspection at the slip
Our appraiser photographs the hull, deck, and machinery, inventories the electronics and gear aboard, and notes the wear, corrosion, and damage a buyer would price. The file carries the evidence behind the number, not the conclusion alone.
Hull, power, and gear
Every characteristic the value turns on is written down and photographed:
Comparable hull sales
The same hull can bring one number on the Gulf Coast in spring and another on a northern lake in November. We weight comparable sales by region and by season, and the report states which sales were used and how each was adjusted to the donated vessel.
Our appraisers hold credentials with organizations such as the ASA, ISA, AAA, CAGA, and NEBB, and appraise donated boats across the United States in USPAP-compliant reports. What goes back to the donor is the full support for the value, ready for the Form 8283 filing it accompanies.
Scheduling the visit
We coordinate with the marina, boatyard, dry stack, or storage lot holding the vessel and schedule the inspection around its transfer to the charity. Name your filing deadline at the outset and we confirm up front whether we can meet it.
What your preparer gets
The report reaches your tax preparer with everything a reviewer would ask to see:
What clients say we are known for
Across 80+ published AppraiseItNow reviews the picture is consistent: every one is from a client who paid us for an appraisal, and the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how quickly we answer, and how much research is visible in the report.
I love the online appraisal format to give me a good idea of what my boat is worth without showing the boat. The appraisal fee is more than reasonable, and I love your professional service!
Boat Appraisal for Charitable Donation
AppraiseItNow delivered a fair, well-supported appraisal that met all required standards. Their team was professional, responsive, and fast throughout the process. I would gladly use them again.
Boat Appraisal for Charitable Donation
From the start they were very responsive, price competitive, and had a quick turn around time. Thank you so much to Joe who was very sweet in responding to my emails; I am looking forward to utilizing AppraiseItNow for many years to come.
Very thorough and professional — great communication and outstanding service. Highly impressed with their work!
If the charity sells the vessel and the claimed value exceeds $500, the deduction is generally capped at the gross sale proceeds shown on the acknowledgment, even when the appraisal is higher. Fair market value survives only where the charity makes significant intervening use of the boat, materially improves it, or applies the mission-use rules.
Because condition drives boat value: Publication 561 says that except for inexpensive small boats, valuation should be based on a marine surveyor's appraisal. Guide values act as a ceiling, not a default; engine trouble, hull damage, or excessive wear pushes fair market value below the book number.
A qualified appraisal and Form 8283, Section B, attached to the return, with the appraisal generally dated no earlier than 60 days before the donation and no later than the return's due date including extensions. That timing is a deduction rule, separate from any DMV, lender, or insurance paperwork tied to transferring the vessel.
No. The donor is responsible for substantiating fair market value, and a receipt from the charity does not protect an unsupported number. Keep the survey, comparable listings, photos, and condition documentation, because the IRS can challenge the value even after the charity accepts the boat.