Charitable Gift Types

In this last of three articles on the gift annuity, we will discuss the taxation of gift annuity payments. Unlike remainder trusts, the taxation of gift annuity payments is determined at the time the annuity is established. This taxation is unaffected by the actual investment performance of the donated assets. Annuities funded with cash make payments that are considered partially tax-free return of principal and partially ordinary income. Donors who fund an annuity with appreciated property must also report a certain amount of capital gain income.

The calculation of the deferred annuity payout and the charitable income tax deduction.

In this second of a three part series on gift annuity deductions and taxation, we examine the calculation of the deferred annuity payout and the charitable income tax deduction.

The bread and butter of planned giving programs for most non-profits is the charitable gift annuity (CGA). The CGA is easy to establish, simple to administer, and leaves a generous gift to charity. This article is the first in a three part series on CGA deductions and taxation.

In this article, we will examine the calculation of the CGA charitable income tax deduction and the variables that affect this calculation. We will discuss how you can maximize your donor's income tax deduction in a low discount rate environment.

A donor approaches your organization to gauge its interest in purchasing a building he owns next door. Your organization is interested, but cannot afford to pay market price for it. The donor is willing to consider making part of the transfer a charitable gift, but wants to receive some immediate financial benefit, too. What should you suggest?

In response to widespread concern regarding the current financial atmosphere, many of our clients are expressing anxiety specifically about their gift annuity programs. Accordingly, we offer the following thoughts regarding gift annuity rates, the reserves backing your annuities, the investment of your gift annuity fund, and additional considerations regarding offering gift annuities in the current environment.

A number of states, including California and New York, require charities to maintain a minimum reserve to back their gift annuity payment obligations. The rules regarding which annuities to include in a state’s minimum reserve computation can depend on the reserve state associated with the annuity.

In the vast majority of cases, a gift annuity will not end until the death of the sole or surviving recipient of the payments. Annuitants are generally delighted that they will continue to receive payments for life, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. Yet, in certain instances an annuitant might be pleased to learn some options exist.

One of the reasons gift annuities are so popular is that they offer donors payments that are fixed and are backed by the general resources of the issuing institution.  The resulting predictability and security of annuity payments has strong appeal for a broad range of planned gift donors.  The age of the donors has a lot to do with this appeal.

We hear regularly from puzzled clients who want to understand why a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) they have just calculated fails to qualify as a CRAT, but a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) with the same payout rate doesn't also fail.

This article covers the idea of creating a gift annuity with the remainder value of a retained life estate. A donor may to do this if he/she needs extra income while in his/her home.