Charities are created and sustained by people who want to give their resources to solve problems and enrich their communities. Recognizing this, lawmakers enacted a provision intended to encourage increased charitable giving by rewarding Americans who make donations to charitable organizations. In 2006 and 2007, the Charitable IRA Rollover provision permitted taxpayers age 701/2 and older to make tax-free charitable gifts totaling up to $100,000 per year from traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and Roth IRAs. On October 3, President Bush signed into law an extension of the charitable IRA legislation. People can continue making gifts now through December 31, 2009.
     Taxpayers age 701/2 are required to make annual distributions from their retirement accounts that are included in their adjusted gross income (AGI) and are taxable. The Charitable IRA Rollover permits taxpayers to make donations directly to qualified charities from their IRA distributions without counting them as AGI and without paying taxes. The IRA Rollover most benefits the nearly two-thirds of Americans who don.t itemize deductions on their annual income tax returns, and therefore do not receive a tax benefit from their charitable contributions. Other donors who benefit are those who have reached their charitable giving limit. Donations from an IRA are excluded from the 50 percent limit, allowing individuals who have reached the 50 percent of their AGI threshold to give more. Taxpayers whose tax deductions decrease as their income increases can also benefit. Several federal tax deductions become smaller as a taxpayer.s income increases. By making charitable donations from an IRA, rather than making regular, required distributions that qualify as income, taxpayers keep their annual income down and qualify for other tax deductions. Taxpayers who live in states that don.t permit tax deductions for charitable donations including Michigan, New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, Massachusetts and West Virginia can make a contribution through an IRA, exclude the amount from their state income and consequently from state taxes. The information provided above is intended to provide general guidance. Consult your tax or legal advisor for further information regarding how you can benefit from this timely law.
      Hospice is encouraging potential donors to the .Hands of Hope. campaign to construct the Hospice House addition and volunteer training center to take advantage of this rollover. Donors have commented that it is a win-win situation for the donor and for Hospice. Naming opportunities are available in the new volunteer training center and the Hospice House addition at the $100,000 level. Hospice of Rutherford County can answer any questions regarding the .Hands of Hope. capital campaign and available naming opportunities. Please call (828) 245-0095 extension 105 for additional information regarding this campaign and to learn more about how you can help alleviate the waiting list at the Hospice House and help construct a training center that can be utilized by everyone in Rutherford County