Legal Developments: We're Watching!

As your go-to resource for charitable giving techniques, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation (TJF) team pays close attention to best practices in addressing the broad range of your clients' philanthropic intentions to support both near-term and long-term community needs. This includes tracking legal developments that impact philanthropy, specific giving vehicles, and everything in between.

For example, we pay attention to the IRS's plan to increase audits of wealthy taxpayers so that our team is better positioned to help you and your clients understand the requirements of valuing gifts to charity. We're gearing up to help you and your clients incorporate charitable giving vehicles to blunt the potential impact of the anticipated estate tax exemption sunset. We're watching the IRS scrutinize aggressive techniques using annuities inside charitable lead trusts. And so much more.

Another issue we're watching closely is the latest news on the IRS's proposed regulations of donor-advised funds. We've studied the transcript from the public hearings in early May, and it was inspiring to see so many community foundation leaders share their recommendations urging that any new regulations not disrupt the positive and productive working relationships between community foundations, like TJF, and advisors who are helping their clients achieve philanthropic goals. At this point, no one can predict what will happen with the proposed regulations--whether and how they will be revised or when they might become effective, if ever. As always, our team is staying on top of the issues. We'll keep you informed.

Of course, a donor-advised fund is just one of many types of funds your clients can establish at TJF. We offer donor-advised funds, endowment funds, field-of-interest funds, scholarship funds, designated funds, and a wide range of planned giving and legacy options for clients who want to invest in the community's long-term needs.

The donor-advised fund is popular because it allows your client to make a tax-deductible transfer of cash or marketable securities that is immediately eligible for a charitable deduction. Then, the client can recommend gifts to favorite charities from the fund to meet community needs as they emerge.

Working with you and your clients to explore a diversified portfolio of giving vehicles is especially rewarding for our team. A client's portfolio would include a donor-advised fund and one or more of a variety of other tools, such as a bequest, unrestricted gift, charitable trust, and endowment gift. Above all, we are confident in our ability to continue working collaboratively with you and other advisors for years to help fulfill your clients' philanthropic wishes. Thank you for the opportunity to work together.

The team at Tidewater Jewish 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/article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.