Stock and Securities
Donating appreciated securities is actually a more tax advantaged way to give than giving cash! As a donor you can take a tax deduction for the fair market value of the stock on the day you donate it, while avoiding having to pay any capital-gains taxes on the increased value had you sold the stock and then given WoodsEdge the cash proceeds. It is important to note that you can deduct the fair market value only if you have held the stock for at least a year before giving it away so make sure you check with your brokerage firm and tax accountant when planning your gift.
Donating is easy, but if you do wish to donate stock, please send us an email at so that we can provide you important information on the process. You will then need to contact your brokerage firm as they will have a form for you to complete to initiate the transfer of the securities.
Donor Advised Fund (DAF)
A DAF is a charitable donation account that you set up with a third party provider where you can contribute to the account as often as you want and then make donations from the account whenever you are ready. You will get a tax deduction when you contribute your DAF and often donors will donate appreciated securities to fund their DAF account. Since the standard deduction under the new tax law has increased to $12,950 for singles and $25,900 for marrieds, accumulating donations to a DAF in a single year may allow you to realize the benefit of a charitable tax deduction whereas you may not otherwise qualify. Donations made from a DAF to WoodsEdge will be processed as non-deductible gifts since the donor already received the tax deduction through the DAF.
Please consult with a tax advisor to ensure your individual financial strategy works best for you. Should you have any questions about charitable giving, please contact us at .
Qualified Charitable Donation (QCD)
Normally, distributions from a traditional individual retirement arrangement (IRA) are taxable when received. With a QCD however, these distributions become tax-free as long as they are donated directly from your IRA to WoodsEdge. To qualify for a QCD, donors must be 70 ½ or older and they can exclude up to $100,000 from gross income through QCDs. For a married couple, if both spouses are age 70 ½ or over and both have IRAs, each spouse can exclude up to $100,000 each for a total of $200,000 per year. As an additional incentive, QCDs count toward the IRA owner’s required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year. This is an exceptional way to support WoodsEdge and reduce your taxable income.
IMPORTANT: QCDs are not deductible as a charitable contributions and because the donor is not taxed for a QCD distribution from their IRA, the IRS requires that donors must get a written acknowledgement of their contribution. We request that if you are going to make QCDs to WoodsEdge, please notify us so that we can insure the correct tax treatment of your donation and issue you a receipt. Because it isn’t always obvious to us that a donation is coming from and IRA, please make sure all donations are notated that they are a QCD in the memo of the check or if your brokerage firm is cutting the check on your behalf please make sure that they notate that the donation is a QCD on the check, check stub or an accompanying letter.
Please consult with a tax advisor to ensure your individual financial strategy works best for you. Should you have any questions about charitable giving, please contact us at .