Thomas C. DANZIGER and Patricia PERNES

The New York State use tax is a bit like your CPA’s love life: difficult to comprehend, and generally of interest only to other accountants.

That’s a shame (as to the use tax, that is). This little understood statute actually has important financial ramifications for any serious art collector, but separating fact from often fictional or incomplete “expert” advice in this area is no easy task.

For anyone inclined to ignore-or feign ignorance of- the use tax, Dennis Kozlowski’s six and a half-year prison term for tax evasion should serve as a cautionary tale, notwithstanding his surprisingly chipper recent interview in The New York Times (see New York DA Launches Secret Art Sales Tax Investigation). […]

Now, in an effort to unravel the sexy secrets of the use tax, we have put together some questions regarding this statute that many collectors have long had, but might have been too afraid —or too embarrassed—to ask.

Continue reading article at artnet News