Heard it a few times and it certainly seems like something that would happen but is there any proof or real world examples?
Can an Appraiser just make something worth $20m based purely on their say so?
EDIT: Thanks some great replies! and yeah i was asking more about the tax evasion part than the 'modern art is bad lol' angle.
As much as the IRS does indeed take it easy on the wealthy, I think they do consider write-offs in proportion to overall assets. Otherwise anyone could get out of paying taxes, including the poors. You could charge $100 to appraise a $10 vintage tshirt for $1M and then just have them donate it to goodwill and say they donated $1M in vintage collectables. Then someone making $30k a year could write off $1M in donations.