Charitable Gifts

What the new law means   

We have exciting news!

As you know, Congress just passed the President has signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 into law. This legislation includes the previously expired IRA rollover provision, allowing you to make a charitable gift from your individual retirement account (IRA) while also enjoying a federal tax benefit. If you are at least 70.5 years old, you may make tax-free contributions of IRA proceeds to a charitable organization by donating funds from the IRA directly to a charity like the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital.

What does the new law mean for you? The IRA charitable rollover is back for 2012 and 2013!

Donors age 70½ or older are once again eligible to move up to $100,000 from their IRAs directly to qualified charities like the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital without having to pay income taxes on the money. Congress recognized the issues with a late extension and provided two special transition rules:

• Qualified distributions made by Feb. 1, 2013, may be counted retroactively for the 2012 tax year.
• A taxpayer who took a distribution from an IRA in December 2012, may make a contribution to a qualified charity before Feb. 1, 2013, and treat this as a direct transfer.

Moreover, the amounts given to the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital under this provision will count in the amount that federal law requires you to withdraw every year from your IRA. In other words, money you would ordinarily be paying in taxes can now be donated tax free to charity! And your tax-free gift may be in payment of an existing pledge or a new gift. 

As always, we encourage you to consult your own advisors, such as accountants, lawyers, family, and hope you will consider a gift to the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital. Some examples of what your investment means for local Girl Scouts:

• $221 pays for a girl to go through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience for one year
• $350 pays for a week at sleep away camp
• $5,000 sponsors 625 girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs
• $10,000 to the endowment ensures that quality Girl Scouting programs will be around for years to come and qualifies you for the Juliette Low Legacy Society

For more information on this opportunities or other ways to include Girl Scouting in your will or estate plans, like designating life insurance to the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital (tax id# 54-0732966), please call Daryl Wolke, GSCNC’s Individual Giving Officer, at 202.534.3796   or Sharon Gleason, CFRE, ACFRE, Director of Fund Development, at 202.274.3330. Thank you for helping to build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place!

Posted: Jan 7, 2013