In August 2006, President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act of 2006 which includes a provision for IRA charitable rollovers, formally known as qualified charitable distributions. The legislation enables individuals aged 70-1/2 or older to make qualified charitable distributions directly from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) to the charity of their choice.

Prior to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, such a charitable contribution required two steps: donor first had to report the IRA withdrawal as income and then take an income tax charitable contribution deduction. Those taxpayers facing reductions on their deductions could not completely offset the income tax cost of their IRA withdrawal with a corresponding deduction for their gift to charity.

The PPA of 2006 provides a one-step option for making a charitable gift of an IRA asset; qualifying donors can direct a qualified charitable distribution to go directly to City Union Mission or another qualified charity. The simplicity of the qualified charitable distribution is the greatest benefit of such a gift because there is no federal income tax event for the IRA owner.

Here are some important points to consider:

• You must have reached the minimum age of 70-1/2 at the time of the transfer
• IRA charitable transfers may be any amount up to a maximum of $100,000 per taxpayer
• Gifts must be outright to qualified charities; you are not allowed to direct these gifts to a charitable remainder unitrust, gift annuity, donor-advised fund or supporting organization
• Such a gift must be completed by December 31, 2007
• No charitable income tax deduction is allowed for these gifts
• Your gift in the form of a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA to the Mission will not be subject to income tax on your tax return

If you are interested in completing such a gift, here are several resources you can download to assist you:

 Letter 1 - This is a letter template for you to use to instruct your IRA custodian or administrator to direct a qualified charitable distribution to City Union Mission.

 Letter 2 - This letter template is for you to use to alert us so that we can be looking out for your expected gift.

Please check with your tax advisor and see if this could be a good fit for you. If it is, be sure to call or email Calvin Caylor, Donor Relations Specialist, at 816-329-1475 or Calvin@cumission.org and let him know you would like to make a gift in this manner.