"The gist: The federal government hounded a family over a modern work of
art for years because it featured a stuffed bald eagle. The eagle was
killed and stuffed long before a 1940 law that outlawed its killing, but
the law then made the sale of such an eagle illegal. The work
of art—”Canyon” by Robert Rauschenberg— therefore became technically
worth zero. Several knowlegdable appraisers agreed, leaving the family
with no tax liability for a work of art they couldn’t legally sell. The
IRS disagreed, sending them first a $29 million tax bill plus a $11.2
million penalty for allegedly “undervaluing” the art."
[Hot Air]
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