The IRS has announced procedures that will enable 509(a)(3) supporting organizations to seek reclassification to section 509(a)(1) or (2) and thereby qualify to receive qualified charitable distributions from IRAs as provided by the Pension Protection Act of 2006.  MORE »

We are pleased to announce that PGDC members now have free access to the National Committee on Planned Giving's Online Library of articles from the Journal of Gift Planning and proceedings from past NCPG Conferences.

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Charitable giving may be done with the best of intentions on the donor's part, but unless it is done carefully, the donor may lose tax benefits that he or she hoped to obtain, and problems may also arise for the donee organization. In this article from the January 2006 issue of the Journal of Practical Estate Planning, Connecticut attorney Jonathan Tidd shares some practical insights into common issues that arise in charitable gift planning.

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Under the heading of no good deed going unpunished, a tax professor's blog has Vice President Cheney and Mrs. Cheney walking the plank for taking advantage of Katrina Relief Act provisions that allowed them to deduct gifts to non-Katrina related charities in 2005 that exceeded 50% of their AGI.  MORE »

Many tax and estate planning professionals are aware of the basic tax rules governing deductions for charitable contributions; however, advisors sometimes fail to adequately notice the differences between the income, gift and estate tax charitable contribution deductions, and how these deductions apply to individuals, trusts and estates. In this article from the May 2006 issue of Trusts & Estates, New York attorney Avi Kestenbaum reviews the key differences between these deductions so advisors can help clients maximize tax savings, and help preserve and use their wealth more effectively.  MORE »

Terry Robinson is 73, owns a $2.6 million Individual Retirement Account, and has already maximized his deductible charitable contributions for the year. In this presentation case study, Terry takes advantage of the new charitable IRA rollover rules to increase his gifts to three of his favorite charities during 2006 and 2007.  MORE »

A U.S. district court has denied a trust an estate tax charitable deduction because the trust failed to take the form of a qualified charitable remainder unitrust, charitable remainder annuity trust, or pooled income fund as required under the exceptions of IRC section 2055(e)(2).  MORE »

The age-old axiom of no job being finished until the paperwork is done always resonates at this time of year. In this article, Burgess J.W. Raby, Esq., and William L. Raby, CPA, both associated with the Raby Law Office, Tempe, Ariz., discuss recent cases dealing with the rules for substantiating charitable contributions.  MORE »

The IRS has extended (Notice 2006-15) the June 28, 2005, safe harbor date that applies to certain charitable remainder annuity trusts (CRATs) or charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUTs), pending further guidance from the IRS.  MORE »