Posted By:
JoannI'm same as King - been meaning to (and will soon) put a letter in my safe deposit box that gives various options for selling - reputable auction houses (smaller), etc, and an idea of what a reasonable consignment fee would be.
As to taxes, I'm not sure how the inheritance tax on the value would compare to the tax on income realized from a sale by the recipient. I think that if you give them away while alive, the recipient assumes the price you bought it for so if he ever sells it he pays taxes on the difference between the sales price and the price you bought it for - NOT the value of the card when you gave it. If it is inherited, the "purchase price" that the heir assumes is the value of the card at time of death. So if he sold it the next day his taxes on the sale would be pretty much zero because the sales price and assumed purchase price would be about the same. In other words, the appreciation of the card during your lifetime expires with you, tax-free, and the person that gets it starts with a clean slate at current value.
So if your collection is relatively new and the current value not that much more than what you paid for it, best give it away while alive. However if you are one of those lucky people that bought NRMT T206's for $8 each 50 years ago, and they are substantially more valuable now, then it might be best to let them pass via inheritance so all of that additional value goes away.
I think this is grossly oversimplified, but is this generally how it works? Tax lawyers out there?
J