100+ Free ISA CAPP Practice Questions

USPAP Compliance

USPAP 2024-2025 Standards 7 (personal property development) and 8 (personal property reporting); Scope of Work Rule; Competency Rule; Ethics Rule (conduct, management, confidentiality, recordkeeping); Jurisdictional Exception Rule; Supplemental Standards; problem identification; extraordinary assumptions and hypothetical conditions; workfile and five-year retention (or two years after litigation concludes); signed certification by preparer and signer; prohibited assignment conditions.

Specialty Surveys

Fine art (Old Masters, Impressionist, modern, contemporary), American furniture periods (Queen Anne, Chippendale, Federal, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Empire), silver hallmarks (English sterling, American coin/sterling), ceramics (Ming blue-and-white, Qing famille rose, Meissen, Sèvres), glass, jewelry and gemology (4Cs — carat/cut/color/clarity; Mohs hardness; GIA grading), timepieces, rugs and textiles, books and manuscripts, musical instruments (Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù, Amati), Asian art, tribal and ethnographic, numismatic, firearms, stamps, wine, automobilia.

IRS Requirements

IRC §170 qualified appraisal and qualified appraiser for noncash charitable contributions exceeding $5,000 (and $500,000 filing threshold for full appraisal attached); Form 8283 Section A (≤$5,000) vs Section B (>$5,000) and signatures; Form 8282 donee reporting of subsequent sale within three years; IRS Publication 561 Determining the Value of Donated Property; IRC §2031/§2032 estate tax (date of death vs alternate valuation date); IRC §2512 gift tax fair market value; IRC §6695A civil penalties for substantial/gross valuation misstatements.

Appraisal Methodology

Three approaches to value — sales comparison (market data), cost (replacement cost new less depreciation), and income — with personal property most commonly using sales comparison; appropriate market selection (most common market, most relevant market for the object type); comparable selection and adjustments; highest and best use; principle of substitution; reconciliation into a single value conclusion; quantitative and qualitative analysis; effective date vs date of inspection vs date of report; retrospective appraisals.

Types of Value

Fair market value per Treas. Reg. §20.2031-1(b) — willing buyer and willing seller, neither compelled, both with reasonable knowledge; marketable cash value (after costs of sale); replacement value (new comparable, comparable, with reasonable effort in the most appropriate market); orderly liquidation value; forced liquidation value; insurance value (replacement vs actual cash value); auction estimate (low/high); scrap and salvage value; matching value definition to intended use.

Authentication & Provenance

Connoisseurship, stylistic and technical analysis, signatures and inscriptions, catalogues raisonnés, IFAR and Art Loss Register searches, Nazi-era provenance (Washington Principles of 1998, Terezín Declaration, HEAR Act 2016), pigment analysis, carbon-14 dating, dendrochronology, radiography and infrared reflectography, authentication committees (closures and liability concerns), forgery detection, attribution levels (attributed to / circle of / school of / studio of / after / manner of), restoration and condition disclosure.

Legal & Ethical Framework

Endangered Species Act ivory 2024 rules (African elephant near-total commercial ban with narrow de minimis and antique exceptions — item pre-1976, worked, ≤200 g ivory, etc.), CITES Appendix I/II/III permits and re-export certificates, Lacey Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, NAGPRA 1990 (human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, cultural patrimony), UNESCO 1970 Convention, HEAR Act 2016, artist resale royalty, conflicts of interest, advocacy vs independence.

Appraisal Purpose & Function

Intended use determines value type and scope of work — estate tax (fair market value, date of death or alternate valuation date), gift tax (fair market value, date of gift), charitable donation (fair market value), insurance coverage (replacement value new/comparable), insurance damage/loss (diminution or cost to restore), equitable distribution (fair market value), dissolution of marriage, bankruptcy (orderly liquidation), collateral lending (fair market or liquidation), expert witness and litigation support; client vs intended user distinction.

Market Knowledge

Primary vs secondary markets; auction houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Phillips, Heritage, Doyle) vs private treaty and dealer markets; online venues (1stDibs, Invaluable, LiveAuctioneers, Artnet); interpretation of hammer price, buyer's premium, seller's commission, reserves, and bought-in lots; exchange-rate adjustments; trends and market cycles; geographic market variation; price databases (Artnet Price Database, Artprice, AskArt).

Report Writing

USPAP Standard 8 appraisal report content requirements, self-contained vs summary reports for personal property, oral report (follow-up workfile), certification statement and signature requirements, limiting conditions and assumptions, photographs and detailed item descriptions, comparables documentation, clarity sufficient for intended users and uses, transmittal letter, credentials and qualifications, inclusion of scope of work performed.

Insurance & Loss

Scheduled vs blanket personal articles policies, replacement value new, replacement value comparable, actual cash value (ACV), agreed value, pairs-and-sets doctrine (loss of one diminishing the value of the whole), diminution of value after damage, loss assessment after fire/water/theft, salvage, subrogation, inventory vs appraisal distinction, scheduling thresholds, documentation requirements for claims.