U.S. Giving Hits $295.02 Billion in 2006, "Giving USA 2007," The Giving USA Foundation, www.aafrc.org
The Giving USA Foundation recently released Giving USA 2007 estimating donors made charitable gifts of $295.02 billion in 2006, an amount representing 2.2% of the U. S gross domestic product (GDP). Individuals contributed 83.4% of this amount, with gifts of $222.89 billion (75.6%) from living donors and $22.91 billion (7.8%) from deceased donors. "Mega" gifts from individuals played an important role in giving with at least 21 gifts of $100 million or more. Among these gifts was a $1.9 billion gift made by Warren Buffet. Foundation giving also increased in 2006, driven largely by increases in the stock market and additional gifts from donors. Table 1 shows the sources of 2006 charitable gifts.
| Individuals | $222.89 | 75.6% |
| Foundations | $36.50 | 12.4% |
| Bequests | $22.91 | 7.8% |
| Corporations | $12.72 | 4.3% |
| Total | $295.02 | 100% |
Religious organizations received $96.82 billion (32.8%) of this amount, once again the largest percentage of all recipients. The arts, which increased 9.9% to $12.51 billion, and education, which increased 9.8% to $40.98 billion, showed the greatest growth among charitable sectors. Charitable recipients are shown in Table 2.
| Religion | $96.82 | 32.8% |
| Education | $40.98 | 13.9% |
| Human services | $29.56 | 10.0% |
| Foundations | $29.50 | 10.0% |
| Public-society benefit | $23.41 | 7.3% |
| Unallocated giving | $26.08 | 8.8% |
| Health | $20.22 | 6.9% |
| Arts, culture, humanities | $12.51 | 4.2% |
| International affairs | $11.34 | 3.8% |
| Environment, animals | $6.60 | 2.2% |
Guidance Provided for New percentage Limitation Rules for Qualified Conservation Contributions Under Pension Protection Act of 2006, Notice 2007-50; 2007-25 IRB 1 (June 18, 2007)
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 created a two-year window (for calendar years 2006 and 2007) in which donors may take a charitable deduction of up to 50% of adjusted gross income for qualified conservation contribution easements that do not prohibit farming or ranching or up to 100% of adjusted gross income when the donor is a qualified farmer or rancher. As a further benefit, any unused deduction can be carried forward for 15 years if the donor is a farmer or rancher in the year of the carry forward. Treasury Notice 2007-50 provides guidance to taxpayers in applying these provisions. The Notice uses a 13-question Q&A format to address the computation of the charitable deduction and carryover, the deduction's interaction with other charitable deductions, and the order in which multiple contribution deductions are applied.
Charitable Mid-Term Federal Rates
The charitable mid-term federal rates under IRC §7520 for gifts made in August 2007 are set out below. These rates are used to determine the present value of an annuity, an interest for a life or term of years, or a remainder or reversionary interest. Call Marilyn B. Schaffer, CAP, Director of Planned Giving, if you need current rates for your calculations.
| August 2007 | 6.2% |
| July 2007 | 6.0% |
| June 2007 | 5.6% |
Spring 2007 Statistics of Income Bulletin Includes Report on Charitable Deductions for Non-cash Contributions for 2004 Tax Year, "Individual Noncash Contributions 2004," www.irs.gov
In the 2004 tax year, 25.3 million taxpayers took $43.4 billion in itemized charitable deductions for non-cash contributions. Of these, 6.6 million taxpayers claimed deductions exceeding $500 (requiring a Form 8283). These contributions generated deductions of $37.2 billion (or 86% of the non-cash gift dollar value). Table 3 details the most popular types of non-cash deductions and average values for those gifts.
| Clothing | 7,684,137 | $6.331 | $824 |
| Household items | 4,220,288 | $3.464 | $821 |
| Cars/vehicles | 970,516 | $2.627 | $2,706 |
| Corporate stock | 405,233 | $15.053 | $37,148 |
| Art and collectibles | 143,845 | $.929 | $6,458 |
| Real estate | 36,454 | $3.113 | $85,383 |
| Mutual funds | 12,697 | $.482 | $37,990 |
| Other investments | 6,384 | $1.016 | $159,145/td> |
| Easements | 3,365 | $1.449 | $430,716 |
| Intellectual property | 181 | $.031 | $171,093 |