Tax reform is here and like many Osher members, you may be wondering how this will impact your charitable giving this year. There are many ways you can make a difference for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Towson University while enjoying financial benefit as well.
Here are some tax efficient ways to make your charitable gifts in 2018:
- You can donate appreciated stock, and eliminate capital gains tax and if you itemize be able to deduct the full fair market value.
- You can name the Towson University Foundation as a beneficiary of a retirement plan asset to support the Osher Sustaining Fund. This asset remains taxable if distributed to your heirs but is tax-free when given to a charitable organization.
- The IRA Charitable Rollover, made permanent in 2015 with the PATH Act (Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes), allows donors to make charitable gifts directly from an IRA without recognizing it as income. The donor gifts part or all of the required minimum distribution (RMD) to a qualified charity and avoids paying tax on what otherwise would be considered income. If you are 70 ½ or older, you can use this option to make your annual gift. Whether you itemize your taxes or not, this gift helps you fulfill your required minimum distribution and reduces your adjusted gross income (AGI). Under the new tax law, giving through your RMD can be a benefit in multiple ways: your gift counts toward satisfying the annual RMD, reduces your taxable income, and you gain the satisfaction of being able to support the causes that are most important to you, like the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Towson University. According to Ruth Spivak, CPA, and member of Osher at Towson University, “I direct part of my RMD to the Osher Sustaining Fund which saves me taxes and helps out Osher at Towson University.”
Please contact Kathleen Hider at khider@towson.edu or by phone 410-704-6287 for additional information and for a sample letter of instruction for your IRA plan administer.
