Client has 4 oriental rugs to donate to an organization. They were last appraised in Dec 2012 and valued, jointly, at about $7,000.
She planned to make this donation before the end of 2014, but to avoid the cost of another appraisal, questioned whether she can split the donation into two parts - one rug, valued at $3,000 in 2014 and the remaining 3 valued, jointly, at $4,000 in 2015 - to keep both donations below the $5,000 threshhold.
I understand that "similar" donations made within the year are combined and considered as one. Is this true in adjacent years (e.g., Dec 2014 and Jan 2015)? Is this a reasonable tactic? Legal?