Ways to Give
As you consider your year-end tax planning, we hope you will consider making good use of the income tax charitable deduction. Your year-end gifts can significantly reduce your income taxes, while providing meaningful support to the CGSC Foundation and other non-profit organizations.
There are several ways to give to the Foundation:
Gifts of Cash - Gifts of cash are fully deductible, up to a maximum of 50% of your adjusted gross income. Any excess can generally be carried forward and deducted over as many as five subsequent years.
Gifts of Stock - If you own stock, it is almost always more tax-wise to contribute stock than cash. This is because you avoid paying capital gains on the increase in the value of the stock while simultaneously receiving the benefits of the tax deduction for the full market value of the stock at the time of the gift. Typically however, you must have owned the stock for at least a year to qualify for these tax advantages. Like gifts of cash, gifts of stock are fully deductible, but only up to a maximum of 30% of your adjusted gross income.
Gift of Real Estate - A residence, vacation home, farm or vacant lot may have so appreciated in value through the years that its sale would mean a sizeable capital gains tax. By making a year-end gift of this property instead, you would avoid the capital gains tax and at the same time, receive a charitable deduction for its full market value at the time of the gift. It is also possible to gift your real estate so that you can continue to use it during your lifetime while receiving the deduction in the year you gifted the property.
Life Income Gifts - If you are considering a major gift, a "life income" gift may be an excellent option for a year-end gift. In this method you can transfer cash or stock to the foundation and establish a "charitable remainder unitrust" or "charitable remainder annuity trust" that would provide you with an annual return for life after which the assets would be distributed to the foundation. Through this arrangement you would be increasing your income and making a meaningful (and tax-deductible) contribution.
Bequests - When a loved one passes away the federal estate taxes can be as high as 40 to 50% of the estate's value. It definitely pays to do some advance planning with your attorney and financial advisors. One of the options to consider in your estate planning is a charitable bequest. You can help the foundation while reducing estate tax dollars.
The information provided here is necessarily general in nature, but we would be glad to work with you to provide more information. The best advise for anyone considering charitable gifts is to consult your tax and financial advisors and your estate planning attorney.