The Service has ruled privately that a public charity's purchase of a commercial annuity to reinsure its payment obligation under a charitable gift annuity contract will not be treated as commercial insurance under section 501(m), nor will any benefits received by the charity under the contract (including any lump sum benefits under a guaranteed cash refund feature) be considered unrelated business income to the charity.  MORE »

Writing as a volunteer on behalf of the American Council on Gift Annuities and the National Committee on Planned Giving (now the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning), Conrad Teitell has prepared and delivered a letter and draft bill to the Senate and House leadership urging the Congress to enact legislation to expand current law that allows qualified individuals to roll over to charities from their IRAs tax-free up to $100,000 in 2009. The groups ask that in response to the troubled economy and as part of the stimulus bill that the $100,000 ceiling be eliminated, that rollovers to life-income plans be authorized and that the law be made permanent.  MORE »

According to an online report by the Chronicle on Philanthropy, the American Council on Gift Annuities on December 29th voted to urge charities that issue charitable gift annuities to lower both the annuity rates they pay annuitants and the amount of interest that assets in gift annuities are expected to earn annually.  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 2009-01 indicates the applicable federal rate under section 7520 for January 2009 is 2.4%; down 1.0% from the December rate of 3.4% and down 1.2% from the November rate of 3.6%. In addition, the deemed rate of return for transfers during 2009 to pooled income funds that have been in existence for less than three taxable years is 4.8%, unchanged from the 2008 deemed rate.  MORE »

On January 1, 2009, the National Committee on Planned Giving will become the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. The new name reflects a broader mission and constituency for an organization that has been serving the charitable planning community since 1988.  MORE »

Congress has passed and sent to the President for signature H.R. 7327, the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, a bill that places a one year moratorium on required minimum distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts and defined contribution plans for 2009. Although the intent of the legislation is to give retirees an opportunity to recoup financial losses suffered in the last year, it may adversely affect some charitable IRA rollovers.

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A magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for Colorado has granted a plaintiff's motion to compel the IRS to produce a "matrix" which is a compilation of valuation data on thirty-five sales of real property subject to conservation easements. Plaintiffs argued the matrix and identity of the additional properties would reveal the analysis and methodology used by the IRS to determine the value of Plaintiffs' easements and enable Plaintiffs to bear their burden of rebutting the valuation made by the IRS and putting forth the appropriate valuation. The court agreed.  MORE »

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the Tax Court's decision affirming the disallowance of deductions petitioners-appellants claimed for tuition and fees paid to their children's religious day schools.  MORE »

The Service has ruled privately that a testamentary partial assignment of an IRA to three charities will not be a deemed transfer within the meaning of section 691(a)(2) and that only the charities will include the amounts of IRD distributed to them in their gross income.  MORE »

The retirement of the Baby Boomers is shifting their priorities from accumulation to spending and charitable giving. But many wealth managers remain stubbornly focused on helping clients retain their wealth. In this article, Burlingame, California based wealth manager Sean Stannard-Stockton discusses how the trend of “Giving while living,” is placing the philanthropic advisory role squarely onto the shoulders of wealth managers who may or may not be up to the task.

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