Appreciated Land

One way to make a meaningful gift to The Shelter for Abused Women & Children without impacting your lifestyle during your retirement years, is a gift of land that has appreciated in value over the years. The benefits of donating the property to The Shelter for Abused Women & Children are two-fold: (1) to avoid capital gains on the property, and (2) the ability to deduct up to 30% on your adjusted gross income for up to six years.

Example: Bill and Jane Moore bought six acres of land 15 years ago for $2,000 an acre. It is valued at $10,000 an acre for a total of $60,000, on which they pay property taxes each year. They do not want the land, and don’t really want to sell it and pay capital gains tax on the increase of $8,000 an acre, or up to $1,600 in tax per acre.

The Moore’s have been annual donors to The Shelter for many years, and now they want to make a more significant contribution.  By donating the land to The Shelter they need only make a simple change in the title.  Not only do they fulfill their desire to make a generous and meaningful gift to help the families at The Shelter, they are also able to simplify their lives. The added benefit is the elimination of the property tax, a reduction to their taxable estate, and a tax deduction for the full $60,000 to offset as much as 30% of their adjust gross income (AGI).