Income tax: are expenses incurred by a taxpayer in obtaining valuations for gifts of property donated under the Cultural Gifts Program allowable deductions?

Yes. Expenses incurred in obtaining valuations from approved valuers under section 30-200 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) [1] solely for the purposes of making gifts of property covered by section 30-15 are deductible because they are tax-related expenses for the purposes of section 25-5.

The expenditure is also deductible if the donation is a disposal of trading stock not in the ordinary course of business and an amount is included in the donor's assessable income under section 70-90. Example: 3. Taxpayer A donated a painting to a public art gallery under the Cultural Gifts Program. As required by table item 4 in section 30-15, the taxpayer obtained two written valuations from approved valuers under section 30-200. The total cost of obtaining the valuations was $600. As the $600 was incurred solely for the purposes of making a gift covered by section 30-15, Taxpayer A is entitled to an income tax deduction for that amount.