Planned gifts provide an opportunity to realize your personal financial
goals and to strengthen the work of Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary for the future.
Through a planned gift, you may be able to increase your current income, or provide
additional retirement income, while reducing income and estate taxes. With
planning, it is possible to reduce or eliminate income taxes (including capital gain)
and transfer taxes (including gift, estate, inheritance and generation-skipping). You
can enjoy these tax savings while turning appreciated assets into an income for
yourself or others. Planned giving is a tool that helps you achieve your goals and
helps Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary carry on its work for the animals.
Securities
You may find that you have enjoyed significant gains in the stock market and other
investments. If you own stock, bonds or mutual funds that have appreciated in
value, you have a unique opportunity to realize double tax savings by making an
outright gift!
You may make charitable gifts of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other securities
that have increased in value while bypassing capital gains tax that would be due on
a sale. You can take appreciated assets and take an income tax deduction for the
year of the gift based on the current fair market value of the donated property, no
matter how much was originally paid for it – provided you have owned them for at
least a year and a day. You can deduct up to 30% of adjusted gross income in the
year of the gift, using any unused deduction in up to five future tax years.
Benefits:
Wills
Wills are a convenient method to ensure a lasting legacy for the special needs
animals. After ensuring that your family, friends and companion animals are taken
care of, consider giving a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or all
or part of what remains, including real estate or specific assets, to Safe Haven
Animal Sanctuary. You may wish to notify Safe Haven as to the terms, conditions
and circumstances of your will to assure that your gift will benefit Safe Haven for
your intended purpose and in a timely fashion.
Benefits:
- Provides a specific and orderly process to transfer assets
- Retains full use of your gift property during your lifetime
- Minimizes or avoids federal estate taxes
Gifts of Real Estate
You can make a gift of commercial or residential real estate to Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary and receive
substantial financial benefits. If you wish to give the property outright, you qualify for a charitable
income tax deduction based on the appraised value of the property.
Trusts
Trusts are often used to provide for the management and eventual distribution of
your assets, and are formal legal arrangements where you choose a trustee (either
yourself or someone you trust) to receive and hold legal title to property and
administer the property according to your instructions. A trust can provide for your
children, grandchildren or other relatives, for a number of years – with the
remainder divided among any number of charities. Alternatively, a trust can provide
for a charity for a number of years or a lifetime, and then go to any number of heirs
or beneficiaries.
The following two examples are trusts that allow you to retain income from your
property for life:
- With a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust your funds are held separately and
invested while you (and/or another beneficiary) are paid a fixed dollar amount every
year for the rest of your life – with no investment worries or responsibilities. The
benefits can include a fixed and certain dollar income for you for your life, an
immediate charitable deduction, a way to increase income from a low-yield holding,
freedom from investment responsibilities, and avoidance of capital gains tax on
appreciated assets used to fund the trust. When you die, (or after the lifetime of a
surviving beneficiary) the amount remaining in the trust is available to support Safe
Haven Animal Sanctuary.
- With a Charitable Remainder Unitrust you also place assets in trust while you (and/or another
beneficiary) receive lifetime income from the trust, after which Safe Haven receives the remainder. The
amount you receive as income, however, will increase or decrease with the value of the assets placed in
the trust, which means the amount may change a little each year. If the value of the trust investments
increases, you receive more income; likewise the income will be less if the value of the assets decline.
Benefits:
- Provides lifetime income for you, your spouse or a loved one
- Entitles you to an immediate charitable income tax deduction for a portion of
your gift
- Defers or reduces capital gains on appreciated assets used to fund the trust,
thus allowing the full sales proceeds to be reinvested
- Freedom from investment responsibilities
Memorial Gifts/Tributes
Honoring a loved one through charitable gifts is an especially thoughtful way of
paying tribute. There are several possibilities – gifts of cash, other property, life
insurance; any of the options discussed above can be implemented to establish a
living memorial.
Benefits:
- Remember the people or animals you care about
- Variety of planned giving options available to establish a memorial
- Reduce certain estate and inheritance taxes, depending on your planned
giving choice
Many people are often concerned about tax implications. Taxpayers are generally
permitted to deduct gifts to qualified charitable institutions. You can deduct up to
50% of your adjusted gross income for gifts of cash and cash equivalents and up to
30% of your adjusted gross income for gifts of appreciated property. If you exceed
these limits, the excess can be carried over and deducted over the next five years.
Note: Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary is not engaged in rendering legal or tax
advisory services. For advice and assistance in specific cases, the services of an
attorney or other professional advisor should be obtained. The purpose of this
publication is to provide accurate and authoritative information of a general
character only.
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