For those of you who are passionate about Wisconsin land conservation and are 70 ½ years of age or older, we’ve got some news for you…
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, passed by Congress on January 1, 2013, renews special incentives to make charitable gifts to organizations like Gathering Waters Conservancy and Wisconsin’s land trusts. If you are 70 ½ years of age or older, you can make tax-free charitable gifts from your Individual Retirement Account through the end of 2013. As with previous IRA charitable rollover legislation, contributions need to be made directly from your IRA or Roth IRA administrator to your charity of choice. The transferred amount counts toward your required minimum distribution and is excluded from your taxable income. You may choose to make charitable distributions from your IRA in any amount up to $100,000. A couple with separate IRAs can each make gifts up to $100,000.
Because this legislation was enacted after the end of 2012, Congress also provided two ways you can make this type of gift and have it count for 2012:
- You can make an IRA transfer by January 31, 2013, and choose to have it count as a 2012 charitable gift. The gift will need to come directly from the administrator of your IRA plan.
- If you took a distribution from your IRA in December, 2012, you can send Gathering Waters a check by January 31, 2013 and elect on your tax return to have the distribution count as a 2012 IRA rollover gift.
As 2013 begins, we hope you’ll consider making a charitable gift to support land conservation in Wisconsin. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please feel free to call 608.251.9131 x 10 or email sara[at]gatheringwaters.org.
