September 11, 2017 • Karen DeMasters
Repeal of the estate tax could cost charities donations from the ultra-wealthy, estate planning attorney Robert Strauss says. Wealthy families give to charities to benefit society and to get a tax reduction, says Strauss, partner at the estate planning law firm Weinstock Manion in Los Angeles. If the estate tax, the tax paid on estates of more than $5.49 million, is eliminated, it will give the wealthy one less reason to donate to charities, Strauss says. Charitable donations are deducted from the amount on which the estate tax is paid. When the estate tax was eliminated for one year in 2010, charitable donations fell to $7.49 billion from $11.9 billion the previous year, according to the IRS. The following year, when the tax was reinstated, bequests rose to $14.36 billion, according to IRS filings. Not all of the reduction was due to the estate tax repeal, but it is an indication of what might happen again, Strauss says. President Trump and Congressional Republicans have said they want to eliminate the estate tax, although all tax reform is up in the air right now. “Charities are concerned that donations at the death of a benefactor will be reduced,” Strauss says. “Advisors need to think more carefully about how to advise their wealthy clients on donations because the rules may change this year.”
Wealthy families give to charities to benefit society and to get a tax reduction, says Strauss, partner at the estate planning law firm Weinstock Manion in Los Angeles. If the estate tax, the tax paid on estates of more than $5.49 million, is eliminated, it will give the wealthy one less reason to donate to charities, Strauss says.
Charitable donations are deducted from the amount on which the estate tax is paid. When the estate tax was eliminated for one year in 2010, charitable donations fell to $7.49 billion from $11.9 billion the previous year, according to the IRS.
The following year, when the tax was reinstated, bequests rose to $14.36 billion, according to IRS filings. Not all of the reduction was due to the estate tax repeal, but it is an indication of what might happen again, Strauss says.
President Trump and Congressional Republicans have said they want to eliminate the estate tax, although all tax reform is up in the air right now.
“Charities are concerned that donations at the death of a benefactor will be reduced,” Strauss says. “Advisors need to think more carefully about how to advise their wealthy clients on donations because the rules may change this year.”
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