American Red Cross
American Red Cross
American Red Cross
Gift Planning American Red Cross

Tax-Free Gifts from IRA's Re-authorized!

Congress has authorized "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" which extends the law that allows donors to make charitable gifts from their IRA accounts during tax years 2008 and 2009 without incurring income tax on the withdrawal. If you are age 70½ or older and are required to take minimum withdrawals and you do not need them for personal use, this may be a great way to make a gift to one or more qualified charities. While you cannot claim a charitable deduction for IRA gifts, you will not pay income tax on the amount.

To qualify:

  • You must be age 70½ or older at the time of the gift.
  • Transfers must be made from a traditional or Roth IRA account by your plan provider DIRECTLY to the charity. Funds that are withdrawn by you and then contributed do NOT qualify.
  • Gifts from 401k, 403b, SEP and other retirement plans do not qualify.
  • Gifts must be outright. Distributions to donor-advised funds, supporting organizations, or life-income arrangements such as charitable remainder trusts and gift annuities are precluded.

Benefits--Qualified charitable distributions:

  • Benefits--Qualified charitable distributions:
  • Can total up to $100,000 in each tax year (if your spouse has a separate IRA account, you can each contribute up to $100,000 per tax year);
  • Can be excluded from your gross income for federal income tax purposes on line 15a of Form 1040 (no charitable deduction is available, however);
  • Can be used to satisfy your Minimum Required Distribution (MRD);
  • Are not subject to the 50% deductibility ceiling or the 2% rule.

Example: Suppose you have $500,000 in an IRA and will be required to withdraw approximately $25,000 this year, and suppose that you were planning to contribute $20,000 to American Red Cross. You can authorize the administrator of your IRA to transfer $20,000 to the Red Cross and $5,000 to yourself. The $20,000 distributed will not be subject to tax and will be counted toward your annual minimum distribution.

For more information

Email us, complete the personal illustration form, or call us at (800) 797-8022 Ext. 5 so that we can assist you through every step of the process.