Data Insights

Get to Know the Planned Giving Design Center

May 15, 2012 | 2 min Read

It’s well-known among planned giving professionals that the free-to-use Planned Giving Design Center (PGDC) is a first-stop resource to learn about charitable giving legislation and education.  Recent news about the 2010 Tax Act is important and I urge you to enroll as a user to read a new paper on the ramifications that could become reality when the law sunsets at the end of the year.

Here’s a quick intro:   In December of 2010, President Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “2010 Tax Act”), which extended the “Bush tax cuts” enacted in May 2001 by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, and which otherwise would have “sunsetted” as of January 1, 2011. Under the 2010 Tax Act, the Bush tax cuts are extended for two years and modifications are made to the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. The extension ends on December 31, 2012. The expiration of the Bush Tax cuts affects virtually every individual taxpayer in the United States, as well as corporations and nonprofit institutions. In general, on December 31, 2012, the tax law reverts to the tax law previously in effect in 2001. The expiration will increase taxes on all taxpayers in varying amounts, with some taxpayers experiencing a virtual doubling of income taxes. In addition, a major component of the law is the Estate and Gift tax section. If the estate tax reverts to the pre- Bush tax cut level, there will be a significant increase in estate and gift taxes on Americans with estates over $1M.

To sign up with PGDC and read the full paper “The Perfect Storm: Prospective Expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts.  An Overview of the Income and Estate Tax Effects For Individuals and Nonprofit Institutions,” go to www.pgdc.com and choose your local sponsoring organization’s link.  Registration is free and the information is invaluable.

*Katherine Swank is a consultant for Target Analytics. You may reach her at [email protected].

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Katherine Swank, J.D.

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Katherine Swank, JD, senior consultant at Data Analytics, a Blackbaud Company, helps nonprofits apply statistical analytics and donor research to their fundraising efforts with an emphasis on planned gifts. She has raised nearly $250 million for mission funding during her nonprofit development career.

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