The many benefits of charitable giving have been preserved by Congress under the new amendments to our tax laws. Indeed, for some individuals, the advantages of making a charitable gift are greater. The tax on capital gains on appreciated stock held for more than 12 months has been reduced to 20 percent.
Higher rates apply to gains on depreciable real estate and collectibles such as art and antiques.
When you make gifts to Harvard life income trusts, you avoid capital gains taxes, save on income and estate taxes, diversify your portfolio, and receive a well-managed annual income. Individuals whose gains exceed the new higher caps are no longer able to defer capital gains tax by rolling over the proceeds of sale into a new principal residence and will now be taxed on the amount over the cap. The charitable deduction from the gift offsets the amount of capital gains taxes due. The charitable estate tax deduction remains unchanged under the new law and is one of the few ways to avoid estate taxes that were not in any appreciable way lowered by the new law. In fact, gifts of appreciated property to lead trusts may make more sense now than ever before.