A widow selling inherited gun collection at show in NC, USA

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Limeyfellow

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I know its legal for a widow to do this without an ffl but I am not too sure of the details. My neighbour has with her a good $20000-30000 worth of rifles and shotguns with everything from a kentucky rifle to match rifles and wants them sold on and unfortantly I can't afford to buy them all (though I did get a few nice things), so is there any certain laws you need to follow as a widow to sell these things at a gun show? I assume it needs to be listed in your taxes. Is that so and what other paperwork would one need to do this?

Thanks.
 
I'm no lawyer, but after family had gone through my late father's gun collection some years back, my mother still had about 450 guns left to sell. As it turned out, she was better off wholesaling them to a dealer (Dixie Gun Works,) than trying to sell them retail. If she'd retailed them, the taxes would have eaten her alive, not to mention the hassle of that many individual sales. As it was, she got a very nice check with NO tax hit.
Marty
 
if you're near Greensboro contact Cherry's at cherrys.com.
You can put the stuff on consignment and they'll take a cut.
I used them before and Kevin is the nest.

AFS
 
Another option is to have a dealer sell the guns for you on gunbroker.com or auctionarms.com

You can probably find a local dealer who will handle everything for a percentage of the sales.
 
IRS is watching

MemberJoin Date: Nov 2005
Location: small town Iowa
Posts: 81 I'm no lawyer, but after family had gone through my late father's gun collection some years back, my mother still had about 450 guns left to sell. As it turned out, she was better off wholesaling them to a dealer (Dixie Gun Works,) than trying to sell them retail. If she'd retailed them, the taxes would have eaten her alive, not to mention the hassle of that many individual sales. As it was, she got a very nice check with NO tax hit.
Marty
Click to expand...

Umm, She was supposed to put that in under Scd, D "capital gains". Schhh, don't tell the IRS.
 
She may also want to look at having them auctioned off. With a good/knowledgable auctioneer and some advertizing I have seen people make out WAY better than they would have on any other route. Some things at auction go for much more than they should.
 
BigFatKen was saying
>Umm, She was supposed to put that in under Scd, D
> "capital gains". Schhh, don't tell the IRS.

Well, like I said, I'm no lawyer, but she did talk with several, aside from her usual financial advisors. There was obviously quite a bit of money involved in disposing of this life-long obsession. Selling them wholesale turned out to be a BIG winner for her, especially since there were no records of what he paid, etc, and many had appreciated quite a bit.
One of the attornies tactfully asked her if maybe he didn't want her to know how much he paid for them. She said, "That can't be it, because he'd usually pick something out at a gun show, and tell me to write out the check. I don't think HE wanted to know how much he paid." :)
Marty
 
A couple of good ideas here. Friendly dealer or auction. Auction is especially good if she has a lot of different stuff like ammo, loading equip and what not. Blue/Red Book will give a very rough idea as to what she should see from the sale of them directly to a dealer and a reserve at auction. If they are mostly shotguns and rifles, you might try listing some of them on th various gun sites(hint - here). Might probably would get more that way.

Limeyfellow - check your pm, thanks.
 
Umm, She was supposed to put that in under Scd, D "capital gains". Schhh, don't tell the IRS.
Click to expand...

Part of inheritence ain't no capital gain so it does NOT go under that. :banghead:
 
Gezzer is right. Cost basis is reset on inheritance, so the only possible capital gain would be if there was a gain in value since the husband's death. Inheritance passes without Federal tax between spouses. I think this is true regarding inheritance taxes in most states as well, but do not know. I am neither a lawyer nor an accountant; please verify before acting upon my comments.
 
The stepped-up basis is applied, in this instance. As a matter of fact, she could estimate the values at death above the actual sales price. This way, she could actually claim a capital loss of no more than $3,000 for the current year with the balance carrying forward against future gains.

I am not a lawyer, but I have passed two of the four parts of the CPA exam, and I work in public accounting.

ric
 
If you're in eastern or central North Carolina I'd have her contact the folks at Wester Auction & Realty. They're reputable, reliable, and experienced handling these kinds of things.

Another option would be to contact Mike Tilley at PDHSC. I know they've bought entire collections in the past, and they might be interested. If not, they could probably direct you to someone who could help.

I don't have any stake, interest, or relationship with either of the above businesses, by the way. I've dealt with both before and they impressed me, but that's about it.
 
IIRC from my uncle's estate, if the law hasn't changed, the first million is covered - no estate tax. If the estate makes money during the year, that tax has to be paid; i.e., if the collection starts valued at $25,000, and during the year appreciates to $26,000, the $1,000 difference is taxable.

I am NOT a tax attorney, even tho I will stay at _regular_ holiday inns if I want room service.
 
How many guns are we talking about here? And does the state she live in requires any type of permit for some types of guns?

And what are the state requirments for private sales?

-Bill
 
Carnaby said:
No kidding. Have her post one a day on THR. We'll make sure they all get good homes
Click to expand...

+1

Seriously. Free auctioneering.

Happen to have a break-top .22LR in the collection? ^_^
 
"IIRC from my uncle's estate, if the law hasn't changed, the first million is covered - no estate tax. If the estate makes money during the year, that tax has to be paid; i.e., if the collection starts valued at $25,000, and during the year appreciates to $26,000, the $1,000 difference is taxable.

I am NOT a tax attorney, even tho I will stay at _regular_ holiday inns if I want room service."

The original poster's situation is different than the one referrence above. She is a widow, therefore, all of his property passes to her. Her basis is the value at date of death or six months after DOD. Any property transferred to her bypasses estate taxes.

ric
 
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