Charitable Giving – Tax Tips
I have been asked by a charitiable organization if there are any general tips for tax time that could encourage thought to make a charitable donation either now or in the future to reduce tax burden. Are there any ‘unique’ ideas that I can run by them? Thank you.
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Wed, 2010-04-07 02:34
This is not unique, but the only IRA related charitable feature that exists while the IRA owner is still alive.
The qualified charitable distribution up to 100,000 directly from an IRA has not been authorized yet for 2010 as it was in recent years, but it is included in an extenders bill that has an excellent chance of passing before year end. Charitable lobbyists are all over Congress to approve the extension of this contribution. Once approved, the charity should move quickly to publicize the approval for 2010, because these contributions tend to be large. However, the IRA owner must have reached age 70.5 to the day before they qualify for this distribution, and the RMD requirement is credited against the amount contributed. There will probably be no major changes from prior years, so the charity should bone up on the prior legislation, and once they are sure of the terms of the extension after it is signed by Obama, they can get their letters out to seniors.
They also might consider sending a letter advising seniors to hold off on their RMDs pending resolution of the extension if they are inclined to make the direct contribution. That will eliminate their taxes altogether on their 2010 IRA distributions.