Charitable Giving

Congress enabled those who are taking the standard deduction to deduct $300 of charitable giving if they do not itemize.

If a portion of your charitable gift is nondeductible, then no portion of the gift can be counted as a Qualified Charitable Distribution. But there is one accepted loophole for QCDs.

This June, the IRS came out with their final ruling on how charitable gifts to receive state tax credits will be handled. This is how the strategy works now.

Taking these few extra steps can maximize your gift’s benefit to both you and the recipient.

“When you buy stock, you don’t tell the company how to spend your money,” says Ken Stern. Sadly, Ken Stern doesn’t understand how stock ownership works.

These are two ways to benefit from the higher standard deduction while still fulfilling your charitable intentions.

New proposed legislation cuts the benefit of donating to charity and receiving tax credits in return.

If you choose to make a QCD, we suggest saving as much documentation as possible.

We will have to wait and see what tax law we have after Congress reconciles the bills and the final version is signed into law by the President.

How do you determine the value of your gift of stock? The IRS doesn’t like you to use rough estimates on your tax forms; they prefer a black and white number.

Unfortunately the age restriction makes the charitably-inclined young, who are more likely to be in the 0% capital gains bracket, unable to make QCDs.

Instead of giving cash, there are two ways you may be able to give so more of your money goes to charity instead of the IRS.

What if you do not need all the money from your RMD and you are also charitably inclined?

If you give away more than 50% of this year’s income, you cannot deduct it this year, but you can carry it forward for up to 5 years.

Which company should you choose when you’re opening a donor-advised fund?

An easy estate workaround is to set up a Donor Advised Fund as a Testamentary fund, meaning you aren’t funding it yet, but it will be funded upon your death.

There are several strategies for using a donor advised fund which will help determine your asset allocation.

Most people are unaware that giving a gift can be a taxable event because they themselves have not yet experienced the tax.

QCDs allow individuals age 70 1/2 or older to give directly to a charity from your IRA without counting the distribution as taxable income.

Giving appreciated stock not only allows you to support your favorite charity but also avoid paying capital gains tax on your gifted stock.

A donor advised fund makes the process of charitable giving simple and easy.

Late last year, the IRS proposed asking charities to collect sensitive donor identity information for any charitable gift of more than $250.

It is better to leave stock to a family member in your estate plan than to gift them the stock while you are alive.

We highly recommend a Donor Advised Fund for generous investors.

While helping a family member out is noble, money often complicates the relationship.

Virginia taxpayers can give generously and offset the cost of those gifts through tax credits and the avoidance of capital gains taxes.

Every nonprofit needs to keep an up-to-date list of the types of assets that they will accept as donations.

My daughter and son-in-law are expecting their first child, and my husband and I want to give some money for the child as a gift. What are my options?

There are five ways that both you and the government could make charitable giving more significant.

A donor advised fund makes giving easier.

Keeping your donor advised fund invested could result in more benefit to the charities you support.

There is a tax benefit to leaving some assets to your favorite charity rather than leaving it to your heirs.

Leaving a legacy can be a great benefit for the charity receiving the gift.

There is no reason why charities should not be thankful.

Schwab Charitable Donor Advised Funds make the gifting process easier.

To receive tax credits for your donation, first contact the charitable organization and determine if it has any remaining tax credits to allocate to your gift. If tax credits are still available, fill out the Contribution Notification Form and send it to the organization.

Church Hill Activities and Tutoring is one example of the many charities that are granted tax credits to share with donors.

With as little as $25 you can begin loaning money to developing world entrepreneurs.

This technique can avoid paying any tax, a savings worth up to 36.1%.

There is a limit, or exclusion–an amount that the government will allow you to gift to a person per year, without incurring tax consequences.

The study also found that when wealthy people are heavily clustered in a neighborhood, their generosity drops.

Maybe it is time you checked up on your favorite charities before making your next gift.

Although a number of tax breaks got snuffed out by the recent tax compromise passed on January 1, the ability to make charitable contributions from IRA accounts for people older than 70 1/2 was given new life.

This kitten gifts appreciated stock. Be more like this kitten.

The hypocrisy of candidates who pretend to be generous with other people’s money while purposefully characterizing those who are actually generous destructively is an issue worthy of consideration when you vote.

Charitable gift annuities get an “A” for marketing and an “F” for performance.

Do I start planting investments and then refrain from giving for ten years?

Last month I was eating lunch at a local restaurant when I noticed an offer by GiveBuddy.com that the restaurant would send a check for 10% of my receipt to any organization I chose.

The tax code provision that allowed IRA owners to contribute up to $100,000 directly from their IRA to the qualified charity of their choice–without recognizing the donation as income–expired at the end of 2011, but what if it is reinstated?

A Donor Advised Fund is a way to give small amounts to many charities. But take a look at the pros and cons of this strategy before diving in.