At the end of 2011 the tax code provision that allowed gifting to charity direct from an IRA expired. So what can you do in 2012 if you've used this provision in previous years to make donation from an IRA?

Considering that Congress sometimes has a way of reinstating provisions retroactively, it is possible that you can still continue to make your donations with the hope that the tax benefit will be re-instated. If you still want to make the donation regardless of how it is taxed you can still have it transferred directly to the charity from the IRA. If the re-instate the rule, great, you get the exclusion under the prior year's rule. If not, then the donation just get treated like any other gift from another source and is recognized as income and is itemized as a deduction. Not as great as under the previous rule, but still a deduction nonetheless. If you are an ardent philanthropist don't let this rule expiration deter you from giving, just be aware of what it means come tax time and prepare in advance.

Please contact a professional estate litigation Attorney for more information on how you could make donations to charity from your estate assets.

*This blog entry was not written by an Attorney and should not be constituted as professional legal advice.