Tax Smart and Creative Ways to Better the World

In tight economic times charities are often hit with increasing needs from the individuals who require their services. To make matters worse, generous donors are struggling with their own financial issues resulting in less donations to their favorite charities. In times like this both donors and charitable organizations have to adapt and become more creative and open to unique planning opportunities that can provide benefits to the donors and the charities.

Through my wife’s volunteer work and my friend Cara Welch who works with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity we have put together a show that will provide you with the tools to help you meet your charitable organization obligations as well as help you keep a few extra dollars in your pocket through tax savings.

Feel free to visit the Habitat website to see if you can help.

Creative Ways to Give and Avoid Taxes at the Same Time:

Donor Advised Funds:
Most large charities have brokerage accounts and can easily accept your appreciated stock contributions. However, what happens if you want to give appreciated mutual funds or if the charity you want to make a contribution to is not large enough to have their own brokerage account? Donor Advised Funds are the answer, and in the last two years they have become much more accessible with lower minimums and fees. I personally use the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and have been very pleased with the service they provide as well as the low cost. Listen to the show for complete details on minimums, tax benefits, flexibility with small charities, and the ability to control the timing of grants.

Donating Land and Houses:
In this real estate market there is an opportunity to make a burden into a blessing by donating your appreciated land and houses to a charitable organization. To get the details on how to structure such a transaction I have enlisted the help of John Marshall – John can be reached at 770-716-8336. John is a Licensed Enrolled Agent with extensive experience representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service. On today’s show we will answer the following questions concerning this type of donation:

Why donate land?

How do you determine the value of the land to be donated?

What is the limitation to how much I can contribute?

What type of property can be donated?

What is a Bargain Sale and how can it help you receive cash as well as benefit your favorite charity?

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