Charities Love IRA Rollovers

Looks like Jim Gust is right about charitable IRA rollovers being a hot topic.

“Charitable individual-retirement-account rollovers look to be on a roll,” The Wall Street Journal($) reports. “A new provision that allows seniors to give as much as $100,000 tax-free to charity from an IRA has proven popular since it was introduced as part of the Pension Protection Act last August.”

The National Committee on Planned Giving says at least $25 million from IRAs has already been donated to charity.

“Harvard University,” the Journal adds, “says it has received more than 150 gifts totaling more than $2.5 million in the months since the law put the rollovers into place. These gifts have ranged in size from $100 to $100,000; 11 were for the maximum $100,000.”

Already, the Journal says, efforts are underway to make rollover donations a permanent option. Conrad Teitell has organized a lobbying group that calls itself the Rollover Rangers. Mr. Teitell hopes the provision can be expanded “to allow rollovers to trusts, including unit trusts, annuity trusts and pooled income funds.”