In a news story published on its website, the United Church of Christ has announced it has received notice from the IRS that it is initiating a church tax inquiry "because reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status." The inquiry stems from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's address at the UCC's 2007 General Synod in June of 2007.  MORE »

AICPA has issued guidance for members who prepare fiduciary income tax returns to comply with the Supreme Court's decision in Knight v. CIR, aff'ing Rudkin Testamentary Trust v. CIR, with respect to deducting trust administrative costs on 2007 Form 1041. With respect to charitable trusts, Form 1041 is required for all nongrantor charitable lead trusts and grantor lead trusts that do not elect alternate reporting. Form 1041 is no longer required for charitable remainder trusts that have unrelated business taxable income.  MORE »

Following passage of the PPA 2006 and the first "Charitable IRA Rollover," the two most significant questions on advisors' minds have been how taxpayers will exclude qualified charitable distributions on their income tax returns and whether or not IRA custodians will be responsible for determining if a distribution is indeed qualified. In this article, UMKC law professor Christopher R. Hoyt shares the answers.  MORE »

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States resulted in new laws under which U.S. grant making nonprofits risk criminal prosecution, civil penalties and the freezing of their assets if they are found to have made grants to foreign or domestic individuals or organizations that engage in or support terrorism. In this article, Los Angeles attorney and PGDC Editorial Board member Jane Peebles describes these measures and provides resources for complying with the law.  MORE »

Many of today's donors desire to designate their charitable contributions for specific purposes or to impose other conditions on these gifts. These conditions and restrictions are usually well-intended efforts to ensure that a donor's wishes are carried out by the charitable beneficiary. In this paper, presented originally at a recent ABA meeting, Georgia attorney Alan F. Rothschild, Jr. discusses the planning that is required to ensure these limitations do not endanger the deductibility of the contribution by the donor while ensuring proper use of the gift by the charity.  MORE »

In a report dated January 7, the Congressional Research Service gave an overview of the application process for charities and other entities seeking tax exemption under section 501(c)(3).  MORE »

Given all the attention by the Courts and Congress regarding the valuation of charitable contributions of art, instruments, and autos, PGDC Editorial Board member Vaughn W. Henry discusses the estate of artist Georgia O'Keeffe and its application of "blockage discount" to the valuation of the estate's collection.  MORE »

Reviews the estate tax charitable deduction, qualifying recipients, conditions and limitations, qualifying partial interests, and reformation rules.  MORE »

In this edition of Gift Planner's Digest, Vaughn W. Henry and Johni Hays, advisers specializing in trusts and estates and gift planning, discuss ten charitable planning mistakes that tax practitioners should avoid in designing and implementing charitable trusts of different stripes.  MORE »

It has been said that only a fool learns only from his own mistakes. In this edition of Gift Planner's Digest, trust administrator Chuck McLucas shares ten of the most common mistakes he has encountered in connection with the design and operation of charitable trusts.  MORE »