The House of Representatives passed Secure Act 2.0 moving it closer to becoming a law. One component of the Act is a provision that would allow taxpayers to make a one-time qualified charitable distribution of up to $50,000 from an IRA to a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity. This provision also applies inflation indexing after 2022 not only to the $50,000 limit on the new split-interest distribution, but also to the qualified charitable distribution limit for direct gifts to qualified charities (currently $100,000).
“For federal tax purposes, virtual currency is treated as property. General tax principles applicable to property transactions apply to transactions using virtual currency.”
That’s a key phrase in IRS Notice 2014-21, where the Internal Revenue Service outlined its position on the tax treatment of the disposition of cryptocurrency. In other words, a taxpayer’s disposition of cryptocurrency will generally be treated as triggering a gain or a loss.
With this core principle at its foundation, taxpayers have been using cryptocurrency to fund their charitable goals, including establishing charitable remainder trusts with gifts of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. While this is certainly a strategy worth exploring for some of your clients, beware that the IRS’s commitment to increased enforcement, coupled with the purported widespread underreporting of cryptocurrency-related income and corresponding tax revenue losses, clients should proceed with caution. The IRS has even launched a special initiative to audit crypto reporting and catch fraud, calling the effort Operation Hidden Treasure.
Think of a charitable remainder trust, including one funded with cryptocurrency, as a vehicle for helping clients support the charities they love, not simply a tax-planning tool. Viewed through that lens, clients will be pleased that a charitable remainder trust not only provides them with an income stream, but also can offer flexibility in the ways they provide for their intended charitable beneficiaries, especially when aligned with a fund at the community foundation that supports a client’s philanthropic goals.
The community foundation accepts gifts of cryptocurrency to support any of our funds or as a pass-through to other nonprofits. For more information, contact Liz at 305-809-4993 or email liz@cffk.org.
Ranging from $175 million to a whopping $15 billion, the 10 largest gifts to charity in 2021 may have caught your clients’ attention. Not only do philanthropic gifts seem to keep getting bigger, but the future looks bright, too, with more than $84 trillion projected to be handed down in what may be one of the largest intergenerational transfers of wealth in history. Although most of that money will flow to heirs, projections indicate that charities could receive as much as 14% (nine percent in the form of bequests and the rest as lifetime gifts to charity).
As your Baby Boomer clients plan their estates, keep that 14% in mind, especially as philanthropists at all levels are becoming increasingly intent on making an immediate impact on important causes instead of leaving behind perpetual philanthropic structures.
Keep an eye out for clients who match these characteristics:
The community foundation can help you develop an impact-focused philanthropy plan for your clients, including helping your clients identify the philanthropy structures that will be most likely to result in the difference your clients want to make in the world.
The team at the community foundation is a resource and sounding board as you serve your philanthropic clients. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage the primary relationship with your clients. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.
