Charitable Giving and Tax-Exempt Organization Changes Under the PATH Act of 2015
This webinar offers 1 hour continuing education credit for CFP and PACE.  IMCA approval pending.

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed legislation, entitled the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (“PATH”), which made several charitable tax incentives permanent, including:

o   The charitable deduction for contributions of real property for conservation purposes under IRC Section 170(b);

o   The IRA Charitable Rollover Provision under IRC Section 408(d)(8);

o   The enhanced deduction for charitable contributions of inventory of wholesome food for non-corporate business taxpayers under 170(e)(3)(C);

o   The modification of the tax treatment of certain payments by a controlled entity to an exempt organization under IRC Section 512(b)(13)(E); and

o   IRC Section 1367(a)(2), reducing a shareholder’s basis in the stock of an S corporation by the shareholder’s pro rata share of the adjusted basis of property contributed by the S corporation for charitable purposes.

In addition, PATH made significant changes to several other charitable tax provisions, including amendments to:

o   IRC Section 664(e), relating to the valuation of a charitable remainder interest in the case of an early termination of net income charitable remainder unitrusts with no make-up provision (“NICRUTs”) and net income charitable remainder unitrusts with a make-up provision (“NIMCRUTs”).  Under this PATH amendment, the net income limitation will be disregarded in determining the value of the charitable remainder interest in the case of an early termination of a NICRUT or NIMCRUT, which is now consistent with the value calculation of a charitable remainder interest in determining the amount of the available charitable income tax deduction when funding a NICRUT or NIMCRUT;

o   IRC Section 170(b)(1)(A), which was amended to provide that charitable contributions to an agricultural research organization are subject to the higher individual limits (generally up to 50 percent of the taxpayer’s contribution base), provided that other applicable requirements are met.  Furthermore, agricultural research organizations are now treated as public charities per se, without regard to their sources of financial support; and

o   IRC Section 2501(a), which was amended to include a new paragraph allowing an exemption from gift tax of gifts to section 501(c)(4), (5), and (6) (social welfare, labor, agricultural, horticultural, and business league, etc.) organizations.

This webinar will discuss the aforementioned charitable tax provision changes in detail, in addition to exploring the effect that such changes will have on the opportunities and incentives for planned giving going forward.

Presenters:

Richard L. Fox, Partner and Chair, Philanthropic and Non-profit Group
Dilworth Paxon LLC

Richard Fox concentrates his practice in the areas of charitable giving, private foundations, tax exempt organizations, estate planning, trusts and estates, income taxation, and family planning. He has represented some of the largest private foundations in the United States, including donors in philanthropic planning and public charities.  Richard has experience with estate planning, preparation of wills and trusts, creation of private foundations and public charities, advising on non-profit corporate governance, creation of family partnerships, and individual income tax issues.

Benjamin S. Bolas, Associate
Dilworth Paxon LLC

Benjamin S. Bolas is an Associate in the Tax and Corporate and Business Departments. He represents individuals, small and large businesses, municipalities, and charities in a broad range of tax and business areas, including tax planning, tax controversy, charitable planning, trusts and estates, public financing transactions, tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance issues.