NEW YORK, NY -- The Internal Revenue Service announced today the official estate and gift tax limits for 2019: The estate and gift tax exemption is $11.4 million per individual, up from $11.18 million in 2018. That means an individual can leave $11.4 million to heirs and pay no federal estate or gift tax, while a married couple will be able to shield $22.8 million. The annual gift exclusion amount remains the same at $15,000. For the ultra rich, these numbers represent planning opportunities. For everybody else, they serve as a reminder: Even if you don’t have a taxable estate, you still need an estate plan.
Facts, Figures, Trends
WASHINGTON, DC -- The biennial 2018 U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy found that 90 percent of affluent households gave to charity in 2017, and 48 percent of them volunteered at nonprofits. In addition, annual giving among the wealthy in 2017 rose by 15 percent compared with two years earlier.
BOSTON, MA -- Research on giving in the United States has now produced definitive empirical evidence to show a decline in the participation and amounts donated by “small” and “medium” (actually, median) donors and an increasing reliance on “large” donors. That lead sentence should make every reader stop and envision the future of philanthropy in our democracy. Nonprfit Quarterly's Patrick Rooney writes in support of a universal charitable deduction.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The number of new accounts at Schwab Charitable rose 91 percent from July to December last year, over the same period in 2016, the philanthropic-services provider announced Tuesday. The bulk of the grant making occurred from July to December, when Schwab donors gave $900 million through 230,000 grants.