It is not uncommon for charitable remainder trusts to hold depreciable property or to hold an interest in a passthrough entity that holds depreciable property. In this article, Ted R. Batson, Jr., Vice President of Professional Services for Renaissance Inc., discusses the proper allocation of depreciation deductions between various forms of charitable remainder trusts and their income recipients.  MORE »

The Service has ruled in technical advice that excise taxes under section 4958 should be imposed on the founder of a charitable organization who used the foundation as a personal checking account for unrelated expenses. The Service recommended an initial 25 percent tax of the excess benefit and a 200 percent excise tax because the transactions were not corrected within the taxable period. In separate TAMs, the Service also recommended similar taxes be imposed on the founder's spouse, two sons, and son-in-law.  MORE »

Continuing our reporting of the political football on the effect of estate tax repeal on charitable giving, the OMB Watch and Responsible Wealth, two government watchdog groups, on August 2 cited two recent Congressional Budget Office reports to bolster their claims that estate tax repeal "would cause charities to lose between $12 and $24 billion in giving per year" and "cost the U.S. Treasury $1 trillion over the next two decades."  MORE »

In a statement released on August 26, 2004, The American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) and the National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG) has hired Washington D.C. based Venn Strategies to aggressively press the case for the stalled IRA Rollover provision contained in charitable legislation in Congress.  MORE »

For purposes of determining the present value of an annuity, an interest for life or a term of years, or a remainder or a reversionary interest, Revenue Ruling 2004-69 indicates the charitable federal midterm rate under section 7520 for September 2004 is 4.6%; down 0.2% from the August rate of 4.8% and down 0.4% from the July rate of 5.0%.  MORE »

The Service has ruled privately that a private foundation's termination by distribution of all of its assets to a college will constitute a termination pursuant to section 507(b)(1)(A) and will not give rise to a termination tax under section 507(c).  MORE »

The Service has ruled privately that a private foundation will not violate the self-dealing rules of section 4941 nor the jeopardizing investment rules of section 4944 when it continues to hold all of its stock in a bank under a plan of gradual sales and diversification and pays compensation to its trustee, which is affiliated with the bank.  MORE »

Russell Shay of the Land Trust Alliance has forwarded to Treasury a position paper and statement from the group's president in support of tax incentives for private landowners, such as farmers and ranchers, who voluntarily conserve land. Under the CARE Act of 2003 (S. 476), currently under consideration, farmers and ranchers who make qualified conservation contributions would be able to use the resulting deduction against up to 100% of their contribution base with a 15-year carryover. This would replace the 30% limit/5-year carryover rule currently applicable to such contributions.  MORE »

Citing Addis v. Commissioner, the Ninth Circuit, affirming the Tax Court, has held that a charity failed to provide a good-faith estimate of the value of goods and services that Gary Weiner received in consideration for donations involving split dollar insurance agreements, and has held that the IRS properly denied his 1997 and 1998 charitable contributions.  MORE »

The Service has ruled that the reformation of a reinstated trust will be a qualified reformation under section 2055(e)(3) and that the present value of the remainder interests in the three resulting charitable remainder annuity trusts will qualify for estate tax charitable deductions. It is interesting to note that one of the three trusts will employ a qualified contingency to terminate upon the earlier of the surviving spouse's death or remarriage.  MORE »