Tax Deductions For Gifts To Foreign Charities

Gifts to charity are often income-tax deductible; bequests to charity are usually exempt from federal estate tax. But those tax incentives apply to gifts to U.S. charities. Individuals intending to give or bequeath significant sums to foreign charities need special planning if they hope to gain similar tax benefits. In US tax treatment of gifts to foreign charitable entities, G. Warren Whittaker explores various strategies, including private foundations.

If Mr. Whitaker's name sounds familiar, that's probably because he is the distinguished estate lawyer who succeeded Brooke Astor's longtime lawyer, Henry Christensen III, after Astor's son, Tony Marshall, had Christensen fired.

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In his fourth day of testimony at Marshall's trial, Christensen said he distinguished between Mrs. Astor's competency to execute a codicil and her ability to comprehend a whole new will:

After he was fired, Mr. Christensen said, he warned Mr. Marshall that while his mother could follow narrowly focused changes to her will, she was in no condition to seismically alter her estate plans. “I did not believe she was competent to sign an entirely new will,” Mr. Christensen said.