Individual retirement account charity rollover restored
Older Americans again can contribute directly to charities from their individual retirement accounts, thanks to a provision in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 , which was signed into law on Oct. 3. This tax incentive is now available through 2009. It allows individuals aged 70½ and older to donate up to $100,000 from their IRAs and Roth IRAs to public charities without having to count the distributions as taxable income.
Originally enacted in August 2006, the IRA Charitable Rollover gave seniors an opportunity to give back to their communities by eliminating the barrier in the tax law that had discouraged transfers from IRAs to charities. This incentive is particularly beneficial to non-itemizers who would not otherwise have received any tax benefit for their charitable contributions.
The IRA Charitable Rollover allows older Americans to make millions of dollars of new contributions to nonprofits. The rollover is intended to benefit donors of all incomes, as well as big and small nonprofits alike. Now is your opportunity -- as a charitable organization or as a donor -- to take advantage of this valuable incentive.
