Stelter’s Senior Gift Planning Consultant Lynn M. Gaumer, J.D. has been busy keeping up on laws and tax reforms related to charitable giving. A few weeks back, she met with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds for a celebratory signing of the proclamation to recognize October as National Estate Planning Awareness Month in Iowa, and recently she also had a meeting with Representative David Young about the Legacy IRA bill. Read on for Lynn’s account of their meeting.
Lawmakers are working on critical issues related tax reform and charitable giving. The charitable giving community needs to stand together to speak up about the importance of charitable giving
I recently made my voice heard.
As president-elect of the Mid-Iowa Planned Giving Council, I was joined by our past president, Joe Nolte of the Iowa State University Foundation, to discuss the importance of expanding the provisions of the IRA charitable rollover with U.S Representative David Young. The Legacy IRA Act (H.R. 1337) was recently introduced on March 2, 2017.
During our meeting, Joe and I advocated for the expansion of the IRA charitable rollover as many IRA owners would like to make gifts to charitable organizations but are concerned about retirement income. The Legacy IRA Act would allow tax-free IRA rollovers for gifts that benefit charities and provide taxable retirement income by permitting IRA rollovers to fund CGAs and CRTs.
By the end of our meeting, Representative Young agreed to cosponsor the bill, which he has now done. We are now one step closer to making the Legacy IRA Act a law but we need your help.
Get Involved
You can make a difference too. Here’s how:
- Contact your members of Congress: House / Senate
- If possible, set up a meeting with the district/state office. If you can’t meet with the office, make sure you relay or email the following information:
- Tax Reform should take good tax policy and make it better. Instead of enacting changes that would curtail the charitable deduction, lawmakers should strive to enhance and expand it.
- Encourage Congress to enact a universal charitable deduction available to all taxpayers.
- Encourage Congress to enact the Legacy IRA Act.
- Leave your name, city/state, contact information, and how any limitation of the charitable deduction would impact those you serve in your communities.
Count on Us
We will keep a close eye on these legislative issues and continue to keep you informed of any developments, and you can always track the Legacy IRA bill here.