How the New Tax Changes Will Affect Your Charitable Giving in 2013

January 09, 2013
Don Weise, Development Director
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference

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How the New Tax Changes Will Affect Your Charitable Giving in 2013

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As you have probably heard, President Obama and Congress recently reached an agreement on legislation to address the “fiscal cliff,” at least for now.  The American Tax Relief Act (ATRA) also extends some charitable giving benefits.  Here are some key points you should be aware of for 2013:

The IRA charitable rollover tax break is still in effect.

 

1.  If you have an IRA and are required to take a mandatory distribution from 2012 and 2013, it may be to your advantage to make a direct rollover of all or some of your distribution, to a nonprofit.


2.  If you are 70½ or older, you are still eligible to move up to $100,000 from your IRA directly to a qualified charity, without having to pay income taxes on the money. Congress recognized the issues with a late extension and provided two special transition rules:

a)  Qualified distributions made by Feb. 1, 2013, may be counted retroactively for the 2012 tax year.

b)  If you took a distribution from an IRA in December 2012 and want to manage your 2012 Adjusted Gross Income, you can still transfer cash to a public charity, prior to February 1, 2013. If you do this, you can still have your December 2012 IRA distribution treated as a qualified charitable distribution for 2012.

 

3.  Donations of real property for conservation purposes are still eligible for charitable deductions.
Taxpayers are permitted to take a charitable deduction for qualified conservation contributions. This applies to contributions of qualified real estate, to a qualified organization, exclusively for conservation purposes. 

For more information on how the new tax changes will affect you, please consult with your tax or estate planning professional.