In a notice of proposed rulemaking, the IRS and Treasury have announced proposals regarding the payout requirements for Type III supporting organizations that are not functionally integrated, the criteria for determining whether a Type III supporting organization is functionally integrated, the modified requirements for Type III supporting organizations that are organized as trusts, and the requirements regarding the type of information a Type III supporting organization must provide to its supported organization(s) to demonstrate that it is responsive to its supported organization(s).  MORE »

The IRS has announced that taxpayers can now request an Employer Identification Number (EIN) (necessary, for example, for charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and nonprofit organizations) through a Web-based system that instantly processes requests and generates identification numbers in real time.  MORE »

In addition to the complex set of Federal income, gift, and estate tax rules that confront the creation, funding, and administration of charitable remainder trusts, a number of states have specific requirements. For example, New York assesses a transfer tax on the sale of real property, a CRT is not exempt from this transfer tax. Pennsylvania and New Jersey do not recognize a CRT as an exempt trust. California assesses a transfer tax on the sale of real property, but does exempt CRTs. And Illinois and Oregon require the registration of a CRT with the state Attorney General's office.  MORE »

  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 2007-63 indicates the charitable federal midterm rate under section 7520 for October 2007 is 5.2%; down 0.6% from the September rate of 5.8% and down 1.0% from the August rate of 6.2%.  MORE »

The Michigan Appeals Court has affirmed the decision of a lower court in Smallegan v. Kooistra in which it held that a donor's attorney did not commit malpractice because he did not ensure the donor had acquired wealth replacement life insurance prior to the funding of a charitable remainder trust.  MORE »

The Service has issued Notice 2007-70 which changes where charitable organization that receive gifts of qualified vehicles such as autos, airplanes, and boats with claimed values exceeding $500 are to file a completed Forms 1098-C and 1096 for years ending on or after December 31, 2008.  MORE »

The Homeownership Affordability Act of 2007, H.R. 2893, introduced by Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla. on June 27, 2007, would provide that qualified homeowner downpayment assistance is a charitable purpose. Under current law, the IRS denies charitable status to organizations organized for this purpose.  MORE »

On July 18, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment to the Patent Reform Act, H.R. 1908, that would eliminate tax strategy patents. On a September 7, 2007, the House passed the measure on a 220-175 vote. A similar measure remains under consideration in the Senate.  MORE »

When the late New York billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley's will was made public in Westchester Surrogates Court last week, most of the attention of the press fell on the $12 million Helmsley left in trust for the benefit of her canine companion, Trouble. For charitable gift planners, however, the philanthropic components of her will also made for some interesting reading.  MORE »

The IRS has issued a revised version of Publication 950 - Introduction to Gift and Estate Taxes. The 12-page pamphlet, which covers recent developments, unified credit, filing amount thresholds for estate tax and GSST, is designed for taxpayers and offers a valuable source of clear and concise information for communication to clients.  MORE »

According to the National Committee on Planned Giving, the latest results collected from the NCPG IRA Gifts Survey have reached the $100 million mark. More precisely, the latest survey results show 5,814 individual distributions with a total value of more than $102 million. NCPG is encouraging members to contact their members of Congress to persuade them to support the Public Good IRA Rollover Act which would expand tax-free distributions from individual retirement accounts for charitable purposes. A sample letter can be found on NCPG's website along with an invitation to take the survey and review a detailed analysis of the results so far.  MORE »

The Service has ruled privately that a limited purpose financial instrument ("unit") that has been issued by a university's endowment fund to a charitable remainder unitrust is a capital asset under section 1221 and, therefore, will generate short-term or long-term capital gain or loss to the unitrust, depending on the holding period of the unit, when it is redeemed by the endowment fund.  MORE »