Nicole Lapin

Option B, donate it for a tax write-off.

If the owner wants to look charitable and reduce their taxable income, they can donate the painting to a museum.

Since the artwork was appraised at $20 million, they can claim that full value as a charitable deduction even if they only paid $5 million for it.

This tactic has been used by

countless collectors.

The IRS has challenged some of these appraisals in court, but most donations go through without a hitch.

And option C, let it sit and

Some countries don't charge capital gains taxes on artwork.

Switzerland, for example.

So if the painting appreciates from $5 million to $50 million while sitting in Geneva, the owner can eventually sell it without paying taxes on the appreciated value.

So let's do say that you let it sit and appreciate.

And now the piece is worth $50 million.

Here's where step five might come in.

Clean, dirty money.

Let's say someone has $50 million in illicit cash.

Instead of trying to funnel it through a bank, they go through an auction house.

They bid on a painting, either through a shell company or an associate, and they buy it from themselves.

Now that $50 million is part of a public documented transaction.

It is no longer dirty cash.

It's art sale proof.