On October 3, 2008, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Of all the last minute sweeteners added to the Senate version of the bill, one of the sweetest for charitable organizations and those who support them was an extension of the charitable IRA rollover provisions that expired at the end of 2007. In this article, The Sharpe Group reviews these provisions and offers resources that can help organizations and advisers assist their donors and clients to take advantage of this renewed giving opportunity.  MORE »

Thinking about a private foundation? Maybe you should consider an alternative. In this article, Los Angeles attorneys David Wheeler Newman and Jose Silva examine the roles that public charities, common funds, and supporting organizations can play accomplishing donors' philanthropic goals.  MORE »

When considering their charitable options, many donors overlook giving assets that can provide the greatest tax benefits. In this article from the Journal of Practical Estate Planning, Orange County, California attorney Joy Gibney Berus discusses several factors to consider and requirements that must be met to obtain and maximize the benefits from donations of art, antiques and collectibles.  MORE »

Earlier this week, Treasury released the Bush Administration's Fiscal 2006 Revenue Proposals which include a provision that, if adopted, would impose a 25% excise tax on distributions from certain investor owned charitable life insurance contracts. In this article from the January 2005 issue of Estate Planning Journal, Stephan Leimberg describes these plans and why they represent a "dangerous and disturbing" trend.  MORE »

Life settlement, in which life insurance policies are sold in a secondary market, has become a major financial market and viable opportunity for policyowners to convert unneeded policies for more than their cash surrender value (CSV), often with favorable tax treatment. In this article from the Journal of Accountancy, appraiser Alan Breus, CLU, ChFC reviews the history of the life settlement marketplace, emerging regulation, income tax consequences, tips for safe transactions, and charitable applications.

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A few years ago, insurance advisers Michael Brink and Bryan Clontz wrote an article for the Planned Giving Design Center that discusses ten creative charitable uses of life insurance and their tax implications in planned giving. It has now been updated for current law, so we thought you might enjoy taking another look.
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In February of this year, Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. Included in this bill is a provision for up to 130 million taxpayers to receive tax rebates. In this special report, Robert Sharpe, Jr. and Barlow Mann from The Sharpe Group discuss what they believe to be a tremendous opportunity and advantage for taxpayers to donate their rebates to charity.
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According to a new article by Barlow Mann of The Sharpe Group, organizations asking their older donors to simply include them in their will may be missing a tremendous opportunity: current gifts of publicly-traded securities and other non-cash assets.  MORE »

Have you ever attended a charity auction only to have the well-meaning auctioneer rally the audience by saying, "Come on everybody, it's deductible!" In this updated article, Ronnie C. McClure, Ph.D., CPA, suggests donors, bidders, and charitable organizations may be in for a surprise. Although auctions probably fall more under the category of "spontaneous" than "planned" giving, there are several interesting tax facts you might want know before the next gavel falls.  MORE »

One of the most significant differences between a charitable gift annuity and a charitable remainder trust is the obligation to make gift annuity payments is a general obligation of the issuing charity whereas the obligation to make payments from a CRT is limited to the trust itself. For this reason, organizations issuing charitable gift annuities set aside, either voluntarily or subject to state law, a portion of the amount transferred in exchange for the gift annuity in a reserve fund for the purpose of satisfying the annuity payments. The problem is that in recent years, the low interest rate environment has caused some reserves to decline to worrisome levels. In this paper, nationally recognized planned giving authority Frank Minton analyzes the various kinds of risks associated with gift annuities, shows how charities can minimize risk and maximize the benefits of their gift annuity programs, and shares some less traditional ideas for attracting more dollars for gift annuities.  MORE »