Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) can now be rolled over to a charity without being included in taxable income. This benefit is only available to individuals 70 and a half years or older for the balance of 2006 and all of 2007. Congress only recently changed the rules for charitable gifts made from individual retirement accounts. These tax-free rollover gifts could be $1,000, $10,000 or any amount up to $100,000 in any one year.
Would you like to use this rollover window of opportunity? Here are two ways:
An individual would contact the custodian of their IRA and request an amount to be transferred directly to their charity. The amount may be part of, all of, or in excess of the minimum required deduction. The custodian would disperse the funds to the charity either restricted or unrestricted.
You may have already given gifts to a charity up to the federal limit, which is generally up to 50 percent of adjusted gross income. You can still make a special charitable gift from the IRA without exceeding federal limits or increasing taxes. The IRA will not increase the taxable income as it is disbursed directly to charity and the charitable contribution is not counted against the 50 percent ceiling.
Please check with your qualified tax adviser to learn about your IRA charitable rollover tax benefits. Contact your conference Planned Giving and Trust Services department or the North Pacific Union Conference at (360) 816-1437; e-mail gary.dodge@nw.npuc.org for more information. Check out www.npucgift.org for general planned giving ideas.
