How to get a tax deduction for charity, other reader questions
Q: Can I deduct $300 in charitable deductions in 2022? I don’t itemize. A: Unfortunately, in 2022, there is no tax deduction if you don’t itemize. The only other option you have, if you are 70 ½ or older and are subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your traditional IRA retirement account, is to ask your custodian to make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA to the charity of your choice. Then you will be able to deduct the contribution from your taxable income.
Q: In November, you discussed dollar-cost averaging as recommended by Burton Malkiel. Can you provide me with his contact information? I am interested in his other investment recommendations. A:
You can contact him in care of Prudential financial Inc. The address is 751 Broad St., Newark, N.J. 07102. I recommend his book, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing” (W.W. Norton), which he revises periodically. A new update will be available in 2023. He is well-respected in the investment field, and his writing is
well-written and understandable.
Q: My husband, now deceased, was a retired teacher in Illinois and received a teacher’s pension after he retired. Through other work, he also received a Social Security benefit. I also retired as a teacher in Illinois and now receive a teacher’s pension. My question is whether I am entitled to a Social Security survivor benefit based on my husband’s work record.
A:
The answer depends on the size of your teacher’s pension. Under Social Security regulations, any spousal benefits, including survivor benefits, are reduced based on the Social Security regulations associated with GPO, the Government Pension Offset. Any survivor benefit you are eligible for is reduced by ⅔ of the teacher’s pension you receive. So, you would only be entitled to a survivor benefit if his Social Security benefit was greater than ⅔ of your teacher’s pension. Type “Government Pension Offset” into an internet search engine to find the applicable Social Security regulation.
Q: I am an attorney with many clients who are “non-designated” beneficiaries of IRA accounts, some of whom are beneficiaries of trust accounts. I have been reading contrasting opinions as to which single life expectancy tables are applicable for these beneficiaries: the old tables or the new tables now published by the IRS. A: According to the attorneys at Ed Slott and Co., a firm that supplies IRA expertise and analysis, the new single life expectancy tables published by the IRS should be used for all non-designated beneficiaries of IRA accounts.
Q: I am a retired CPA. In a recent column, you wrote that it is possible to send a check to a charity directly from a personal checking account to a qualified charity without the use of the custodian of the traditional IRA account, and this is allowable as a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). This shocked me. I am not familiar with this option, and have discussed this with IRA custodians who are not familiar with it either. Can you clarify?
A:
Not all IRA custodians want to be involved with sending QCDs on behalf of their clients. They are allowed to establish IRA checking accounts for their clients, so the IRA owner can send a QCD to the qualified charity directly. Ed Slott and
Co. (IRAhelp.com) has verified that there are three allowable methods for making QCDs. One is for the custodian of the IRA to send a check directly to the qualified charity. The second allowable option is for the custodian to send the check made out to the charity to the IRA owner, who can then forward the check to the charity. The third option is for the custodian to establish a checking account for the IRA owner, who can then send a check to the qualified charity without the participation 0f the custodian. All three methods are acceptable to the IRS.