Legucy Fund: Help the Community by "Gifts of Grain"

Hamilton County farmers can help their community by giving commodity donations to Legacy Fund, and save the taxes at the same time.  The farmers do not have taxable income from selling the production if the legal ownership of it is firstly transferred to charity organization.  So the cogent taxes are saved, but they still may deduct the costs of commodities.  It could be grain, corn, or soy beans, it does not matter.

“Grain gives us another option of dealing to the fund, says Craig Wallace, owner of Wallace Grain Company in Sheridan, Indiana - giving is a great business!”  Craig donated soy beans to Legacy Fund to give additional funding for the fund in the name of his parents.  He also advised two farmers to do the same because the savings were really compelling.

“Gifts like Craig’s make incredible sense,” said Terry Anker, president, Legacy Fund.  “First and foremost, gifts of grain enable farmers such as Craig to give back to their community and make a real difference in Hamilton County.  They may also provide financial and tax-based benefits for the donor, and that’s especially important in today’s economy.”

As Hamilton County’s community foundation, Legacy Fund, an affiliate of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, can accept gifts of commodities directed to a particular foundation fund.  Before making such donations farmers should consult their tax advisor or accountant and notify our organization about the intention of giving.

Philanthropy: Saving Taxes trough Smart Giving (Part 2)

To continue on with our last topic, saving taxes while giving to charity we offer some new kinds of philanthropy that includes making a donation and saving taxes. Here are some other types of donations.

The first one is giving a paid up, life insurance policy to charity. It suits you, for example, if your children are grown and gone, but you have their life insurance policies paid up, keeping them artificially inflates the value of your personal balance sheet and makes it more likely your estate will owe federal estate tax. You have two options. You can retain the ownership of the policy and simply change the beneficiary designation so that the charity will receive the proceeds out of probate, and your taxable income will be reduced. You can also claim an income tax deduction by making a charity the owner and beneficiary of the policy.

The second way is to make a donation by giving a savings bond (i. e. Series EE) to charity. Giving a Series EE bond still triggers income tax, but it also qualifies for a tax deduction.

Finally you can fund a donor advised fund, this is an alternative to private foundation with assets and you receive an immediate income tax deduction. You’ll be able to make grants to charities at any time, even years in the future. DAFs enjoy higher tax deduction limits compared to private foundations and do not require a separate tax return.

As you can see there are several different ways to make a donation while saving on taxes.

Philanthropy: Save Taxes trough Smart Giving! (Part 1)

Christmas is coming and it is a great time for giving gifts!  Giving to charity is a good idea especially when you know that your gift will be useful and wanted.

How can donating save on taxes?  First, you can make donation from your individual requirement account (IRA.)  People age 70 and older are required to take minimum distributions from their IRAs which increase their taxable income.  According to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, you can make annual charitable distributions up to $100,000 from your IRAs.  Satisfying your minimum distribution, you can exclude the charity amounts from your taxable income.

Distributions must be made directly to public charity, i.e. a community foundation (private foundations and donor advised funds do not qualify) from the IRA trustee.  Unfortunately, the deadline to take advantage of this opportunity is December 31, 2011, so hurry up so it is not to late!

Another option, is to make non-cash donations by donating assets.  If your assets have decreased in value recently it’s quite nice for you.  Transferring an appreciated asset to charity allows you to claim a charitable deduction for the fair market value of the gift and avoid the capital gains tax you would have paid when you sold it.  These gifts can be given outright or be used for charitable arrangements.

We will discuss other ways to save on taxes though donating in following articles, Interested? Follow us!

Corporate Philanthropy: Benefits for Company: Part 2

Corporate philanthropy can improve a company's relationship with the government.  Thanks to charity activity, the company can expect the support of the government.  Philanthropy can  also lead to the receiving of grants from a community foundation.  This is also a form of advertising.  The brand of the company can appear in newspapers or even on TV and, considering the topic, this can attract a great deal of attention from potential customers.

When a company engages in charity this also tends to affect the composition of employees.  Such company's will attract employees who want to make the world better.  This means that they will be more loyal and good specialists will not leave the company during the difficult moments.  The company itself will be more consolidated and the quality of work will rise.

The difference between corporate philanthropy and individual philanthropy is that, the first one can often be more significant in a shorter amount of time.  A company that is involved in charity can often donate more to charity organizations or to community foundation than single philanthropist.  Thus it can make a real change in a short amount of time.