Charitable IRA Giving

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How Your Congregation Can Help | Second Collection/Second Offering

Are you a US citizen? Are you 70 or over? Do you have a traditional or Roth IRA? Seniors are now able to roll over IRA assets up to $100,000 in 2008 and 2009 to make charitable contributions--tax free! This is a change—donors normally pay taxes on these funds even if they are making a charitable contribution with the proceeds.

Rules:

• You must be at least 70½
  
• The gift can only come from traditional or Roth IRA retirement assets
  
• The IRA funds will pass free of tax to the CLF. Through reducing your taxable assets and helping to fulfill required IRA asset distribution, a tax benefit to you is already received, therefore, additional income tax deductions normally received for charitable gifts are not granted.

How to Make a Tax-Free Donation to the CLF

Recent US legislation allows you, once again, to donate traditional or Roth IRA assets up to $100,000 to the CLF in 2008 and 2009—tax free. This is good news!

We hope the CLF is an important and integral part of your life, and that as you consider your charitable contributions in the coming months, the CLF is among them. On its carefully considered budget, the CLF would be most grateful for this type of support. Should you have IRA assets available to you, these assets might be the best resource for you to use in your charitable contributions.

Who will benefit most from making a gift using IRA assets under this ruling?

Taxpayers who don’t itemize their deductions.
The IRA rollover most benefits the nearly two-thirds of Americans who do not itemize deductions on their annual income tax returns and therefore do not receive a tax benefit for their charitable contributions. Non-itemizers include lower- and middle-income taxpayers, as well as an estimated 5.2 million higher-income individuals.

Donors who have reached the 50 percent charitable giving limit.
Donors who itemize their deductions are prohibited from deducting more than 50 percent of their annual gross income for the purpose of making contributions to public charities. However, donations from an IRA are excluded from the percentage limit. The CLF encourages IRA rollover donations from individuals who have reached the 50 percent threshold but still want to give more.

Taxpayers whose tax deductions decrease as their income increases.
Several federal tax deductions – dependent and personal exemption deductions and deductions for medical expenses and non-business casualty losses, for instance – become smaller as a taxpayer’s income increases. By making charitable donations from an IRA, rather than making regular, required distributions that qualify as income, taxpayers keep their annual income down and qualify for other tax deductions.

Taxpayers who live in states that do not permit tax deductions for charitable donations.
Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia do not allow itemized tax deductions, and taxpayers are required to pay state income tax on all charitable donations. By making a charitable donation through an IRA, taxpayers exclude the amount from their state income and, consequently, from state taxes.

The Church of the Larger Fellowship
Our programs reach many UUs, and potential UUs, all over the world. The CLF’s vast, diverse membership base makes it a dynamic, responsive congregation that has great depth and longevity. Your contributions will help perpetuate all that the CLF offers now and in the future.

Please let the CLF know of your intent to roll over IRA assets by submitting the form below. IRA assets will transfer to the CLF with the gracious assistance of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which provides more information about conducting this simple transaction here.

Last updated October 28, 2008