November 2008

Note: The following discussion is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice. For specific information about provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 affecting charitable contributions, consult your tax adviser or attorney.

For older donors and nonprofits that rely on their support, a glimmer of good news emerged from last month's economic turmoil: Congress extended the IRA charitable rollover as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

The Fine Print

A charitable gift made directly from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) will not be taxed as income as long as:

• the gift is made in 2008 or 2009;
• the IRA holder is age 70½ or older;
• the gift totals $100,000 or less each year;
• the charity is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions;
• the charity is not a section 509(a)(3) supporting organization (for more information on supporting organizations, see "A Brief Overview of Supporting Organizations"); and
• the withdrawal goes directly from the IRA to the charity.

The donor does not need to itemize his or her taxes to take advantage of the rollover. If the donor does itemize, however, he or she cannot also take the contribution as a deduction.

More Information

For more information on the provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 related to charitable giving, see:

• Text of the act
• Independent Sector, Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Scroll down to the "Charitable Incentives" bullet near the bottom of the page for the link to information on the IRA rollover as well as links to information on the food inventory charitable giving incentives and Midwest flood relief.

Suzanne E. Coffman, November 2008
© 2008, GuideStar USA, Inc.

Suzanne Coffman is GuideStar's director of communications and editor of the Newsletter.