Picture

   
    
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
(781) 843-5034
contact@herbstlawgroup.com
  Herbst Law Group, LLC
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • Who We Are >
      • Peter C. Herbst Jr.
      • Briana N. Capshaw
  • Services
    • Estate Planning
    • Estate and Trust Administration
    • Elder Law
    • Business Succession Planning
  • News
  • Contact
  • Review
  • Payment
  • updateguide

Charitable Giving Options Under the New Tax Law

12/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
​The new tax law makes it harder to claim a tax deduction for charitable contributions. While charitable giving should not be only about getting a tax break, if you want to reap a tax benefit from your contributions, there are a couple of options. 
​
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act, enacted in December 2017, nearly doubled the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for couples. This means that if your charitable contributions along with any other itemized deductions are less than $12,000 a year, the standard deduction will lower your tax bill more than itemizing your deductions. For most people, the standard deduction will be the better option. 

If you still want to maximize the tax benefits of charitable giving and you have the financial means, one option is to double your charitable donations in one year and then skip the donation the following year. For example, instead of giving $10,000 a year to charity, you could give $20,000 every other year and itemize your deductions in that year. 

Another way to concentrate charitable giving is to establish a donor-advised fund (DAF) through a public charity. A DAF allows you to contribute several years worth of charitable donations to the fund and receive the tax benefit immediately. The money is placed in an account where it can be invested and grow tax-free. You can then make donations to charities from the account at any time, in addition to adding to the account. As with any investment, you need to do research before establishing a DAF. Make sure you understand the fees involved and whether there are any limits on the charitable contributions you can make. You should consult with your financial advisor before taking any steps. 

If you are taking required minimum distributions from an IRA, another option is to donate those distributions directly to charity through a qualified charitable donation. The distributions won't be included in your gross income, which means lower taxes overall. The donation must be made directly from the IRA to the charity and different IRAs have different rules about how to make the distributions. 

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    meet the attorneys

    Peter C. Herbst Jr
    Picture
    Areas of focus: estate planning, estate & trust administration and elder law. 
    Briana N. Capshaw
    Picture
    Areas of focus: estate planning, estate & trust administration, and 
    elder law.

    Archives

    December 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    April 2017
    May 2015

    Categories

    All
    Elder Law
    Estate Administration
    Estate Planning
    Informal Probate
    MassHealth Planning
    Real Estate

    RSS Feed

in the news

Stay informed

Sign-up to receive emails from Herbst Law Group, LLC and stay informed about important news and events:

SIGN UP NOW »
For Email Marketing you can trust.

'like us' on facebook

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Tweets by @HerbstLawGroup
​HOMEOUR FIRMPARTNERSSERVICESNEWSCONTACT​DISCLAIMER

Herbst Law Group, LLC
1000 Washington Street, Braintree, MA 02184
T: (781) 843-5034    |   F: (781) 848-3051
contact@herbstlawgroup.com
NAELA
Website design by Birdhouse Marketing & Design