Advisors

We can help when you have clients who need to:

make a charitable contribution to offset capital gains and other taxes
distribute IRS required 5% from their private foundations
transfer equities or other assets to a charitable gift
take minimum distribution from their IRA
make a charitable contribution for the year

Remember that we are here for you and your clients 24/7. Our expert staff can assist you with transferring any types of assets.

In the News

Proposed White House Budget Affects Charitable Deductions for the Wealthy: Under the recently proposed White House budget plan, deductions for tax breaks on contributions to charities would be capped at a maximum rate of 28%. This would limit the value of breaks to the top 3% of taxpayers who face higher marginal tax rates and generate about $529 billion in additional revenue over 10 years. Click here to read more.

Council on Foundation Opposes Proposed Cap on Charitable Deduction in President's Budget
Council President and CEO Vikki Spruill recently released a statement regarding the President's FY2014 Budget. She stated that the organization “continues to be dismayed by the president’s insistence on capping the charitable tax deduction. It amounts to a dangerous experiment with America’s nonprofit sector, providing support for some causes while undercutting crucial private contributions, a core source of support necessary for their survival.” Click here to read more.

Charitable Giving Linked to Higher Stock, Not Lowers Taxes: U.S. Trust managing director says advisors should not shy away from discussing charity with their clients. Click here to read more.

IRA Chartiable Rollover: Earlier this year, legislation was passed extending the Charitable IRA which allowed individuals who are 70 and a half years and older to transfer up to $100,000 per year from their IRA to a charity, without incurring federal income taxes today or estate and income taxes in the future. For married couples, each spouse can transfer up to $100,000 from his or her IRA. This opportunity is available until December 31, 2013. You help your clients consider many factors as they make significant financial, estate and charitable decisions. This opportunity may be of interest to your clients if they:

Have excess retirement savings.
Are subject to a 50 percent of income charitable deduction limitation.
Take the standard deduction on their tax return.
Accept minimum distributions from an IRA and have alternative sources of income.
Are planning to leave a charitable legacy through an estate plan.
Have designated a favorite charity as beneficiary of retirement assets.
Care about the community and want to know their gifts will make a difference.

Click on the image below to to hear Natalie Choate discuss Charitable IRA Rollover at Heckerling.

Benefits of Donor-Advised Funds: The Wall Street Journal recently released an article, The Truth About Donor-Advised Funds, that describes the benefits of creating a Donor Advised Fund over a Private Foundation. The Miami Foundation is available to help create a custom charitable Fund for your clients to achieve their philanthropic goals. To read the article please click here.

The Treasury Department ruling on Donor Advised Funds: The Treasury recently ruled that Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) are in compliance with all IRS regs under the ways we currently operate them. Congress asked Treasury to rule on:

Whether existing rules for charitable deductions for gifts to DAFs and supporting organizations are appropriate or should be modified
Whether DAFs should be subject to a payout requirement
Whether a donor's advisory role with respect to investments or distributions is compatible with a completed gift having been made
Whether the issues above apply to other forms of charity

Treasury reported that no change is needed. An executive summary and opinion on the ruling from the national Council on Foundation's general counsel can be found here. The entire report from Treasury is available here. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) issued a statement on the ruling that you can read here.

Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts

Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts (CLATs) are still extremely attractive at a rate of 1.4% AFR. Jeffrey Baskies' recent presentation "Using a Charitable Lead Trust for you, your heirs and for our Community Foundation" shows how important they are to your clients. A few of his slides are available here. For more information on CLATs click here.