Tax Efficient Giving options

Have you heard about the Montana Endowment Tax Credit? Did you know this is a way to get up to a $10,000 credit on your taxes? By getting this credit, it is a win-win that benefits you as well as your favorite local nonprofit. Montana is one of just a few states to offer a credit like this. We encourage the friends of the symphony to capitalize on this opportunity!

The Montana Endowment Tax Credit (METC) offers you a credit of 40% of a qualifying planned gift's federal charitable deduction, up to a maximum of $10,000, per year, per individual. It also allows a credit of 20% of a gift's federal charitable deduction for a direct gift by a qualified business up to a maximum of $10,000 per year.

The state of Montana considers certain types of “planned gifts” from individuals such as charitable gift annuities, deferred charitable gift annuities, charitable trusts, and gifts of paid-up life insurance to be donations that qualify for the METC. Planned gifts are a way of giving that allows donors to maintain access to income during their lifetime, if desired, provide estate and tax planning tools, and build permanent wealth for Montana’s charities, nonprofit organizations, and local community foundations.

A direct donation of appreciated stock to Glacier Symphony may increase your deduction and gift by 20%.

If you donate stock that has increased in value since you bought it more than a year ago—and you itemize deductions—you can take a charitable deduction for the stock’s fair market value on the day you give it away. You’ll also avoid capital-gains taxes on the increase in value over time, which you would have to pay if you sold the stock and then donated the cash proceeds. In other words, the Symphony gets a larger gift, and you get a larger tax-deduction!

Brokerage account information for GSOC:

DTC# 0057

FBO: Glacier Symphony and Chorale

Jones Account: 89024662-1-1

Please be sure to notify Glacier Symphony directly, or ask your accountant or broker to do so, to advise on the name(s) of the stock(s) you will be contributing, approximate number of shares, and expected date of transfer so that your gift can be correctly attributed when it is received.

A donor-advised fund could allow you to make contributions to the Symphony on your preferred schedule while also maximizing the tax benefit of your donations.

By front-loading several years of charitable donations into a single tax year gift to your donor-advised fund, you can realize the tax benefits from itemized deductions while also maintaining the freedom to make charitable gifts as you see fit.

In other words, planning ahead allows Glacier Symphony to benefit from your generosity for years to come and you become eligible for a larger tax-deduction!

If you are over the age of 70 ½ years old, you may contribute directly from a qualified IRA account to Glacier Symphony and reduce your taxable income immediately.

One of the key benefits of the direct charitable contribution from your IRA is that the distribution counts towards your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). You can contribute more than your RMD to charity as long as you do not exceed $100,000 in a calendar year. It’s money the IRS requires you to withdraw, and by transferring it directly to Glacier Symphony, you won’t be forced to pay income tax on it.

In other words, the Symphony gets a generous gift and you lower your tax liability!