Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 affects Rotary Giving

The country is in the midst of history-making financial events. It is safe to say that every American will be affected by what has transpired, and the charitable giving arena is certainly no different. There is good news. I am happy to provide information on a benefit available once again to a select group of potential donors as a direct result of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EES Act). The EES Act extends the IRA Rollover provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Many donors took advantage of the original opportunity, which expired 31 December 2007, and contributed more than $2.2 million to The Rotary Foundation in just 15 months!

The IRA Rollover provision allows an owner of a traditional or Roth IRA to instruct the administrator to distribute directly to a public charity up to $100,000 without the distribution being included in taxable income. The distribution will count toward the mandatory withdrawal amount. Each spouse may make a transfer of the full amount.

A few restrictions to consider:
- To qualify for IRA rollover treatment, the donor must direct the IRA manager to transfer funds directly to a charity (not cash out and issue us a check).

- The donor must be at least age 70½.
- Donor-advised funds and the establishment of life income agreements are not eligible.
- The EES Act applies only to gifts made in 2008 and 2009.

Below you will find an links to an updated Question and Answer form for your use as well as transmittal instructions for donors' use.

IRA QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TRANSMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS