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Some have used the IRA charitable rollover plan for the library renovation. |
The IRA Charitable Rollover has been made permanent for future years. If you are 70 ½ or older, you can make a gift to Scecina Memorial High School without owing income taxes on the amount contributed. Scecina donors Dave and Mary (Robinson) '61 Allen recently used the rollover and were pleased with how easy it was. Now that this feature is permanent, it will help facilitate planned giving.
Here’s how the rollover works:
- Individuals 70 ½ and older can make gifts of up to $100,000 directly from an IRA to nonprofits such as Scecina without having to report the distributions as adjusted gross income on their income tax returns. A husband and wife can each give up to $100,000 from their individual IRAs.
- Distributions must be made from a traditional IRA or Roth IRA. Distributions must be payable directly to Scecina from your IRA. Your IRA custodian will supply a special form to effect the transaction and can either cut a check to Scecina or wire cash.
- The charitable distributions count toward meeting your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) for the 2016 tax year – reducing the amount of your taxable IRA withdrawals. Certain Roth IRAs could benefit from a charitable rollover, but check first with your tax advisor or custodian.
The Allens used the IRA Charitable Rollover program to fund a scholarship for a student entering Scecina from Little Flower Catholic School in memory of Mary's first husband, Karl F. Erb, Little Flower '55 and Scecina '59. Scecina, with input from the Catholic Community Foundation, and the custodian of their IRA were able to readily explain the details of the program and to answer their questions. Once they decided on their gift, they spoke with Scecina and their custodian, who made a direct transfer of funds to Scecina.
They found the rollover process was very straightforward. In addition to their satisfaction of knowing Scecina could further fulfill its mission with their donation, they as donors benefited as there was no federal income tax on their contribution because it was made using RMD funds.
The Allens gave their gift to Scecina because they believe the school has an important role to play on Indianapolis’ Eastside. “Through the nucleus of its strong leadership and faculty, Scecina has remained committed to the moral and religious values which instill in Scecina's students the foundation to become successful in all aspects of life,” said Mary. “However, to be able to continue to build on these strengths, Scecina needs to attract even more deserving students.”
“We believe that being able to offer additional meaningful academic scholarships to such prospects is a necessary ingredient for the overall rebuilding process of the Eastside,” said Dave. “As the size and quality of Scecina's classes continues to increase, we look forward to believing we have been a small part of this process of rejuvenation."
Important Details
If you would like to contribute to Scecina in general or to a specific project using the IRA Charitable Rollover, keep these details in mind:
- Be sure to inform Jim McGuinness '68, Scecina's Director of Development and Alumni Relations, of your gift ahead of time so Scecina will know the rollover is from you.
- The gift must come directly from the custodian of your IRA to Scecina. You cannot transfer the rollover cash to yourself or to a non-IRA account before making the gift.
- You can roll over cash tax-free from another qualified retirement account to an IRA and then make a rollover gift to Scecina if you wish.
- The charitable rollover generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you still benefit even if you do not itemize your tax deductions.
- If you have not taken your required minimum distribution for the year, your IRA Charitable Rollover gift can satisfy all or part of that requirement.
- Your IRA Charitable Rollover may be designated for a parish, school or agency, as well as a Catholic Community Foundation fund, to benefit a Catholic ministry.
For questions, at no obligation, or wiring instructions, please contact Jim McGuinness '68 at (317) 352-3227 or jmcguinness@scecina.org.