The Tax Law of Charitable Giving

2022 Cumulative Supplement

Bruce R. Hopkins

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781119873556
• eBook ISBN: 9781119873563
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Nonprofit Organizations & Charities
• Index: Business

An essential resource for lawyers, accountants, consultants, board members, and leaders involved with charitable organizations
In The Tax Law of Charitable Giving: 2022 Cumulative Supplement, 6th Edition, renowned legal professional Bruce R. Hopkins delivers an indispensable and timely update to the rapidly evolving law governing charitable giving in the United States. Filled with relevant and impactful regulatory and legislative amendments, as well as the latest significant developments in American case law, the Supplement is an essential resource for business leaders involved in charitable organizations and the accountants, lawyers, and consultants who advise them.

PART ONE
Introduction to the Tax Law of Charitable Giving

1. Chapter 1 Charitable Giving Law: Basic Concepts
2. Chapter 2 Fundamental Concepts
3. Chapter 3 Contributions of Money and Property

CHAPTER ONE
Charitable Giving Law: Basic Concepts

• § 1.4 Statistical Profile of Charitable Sector
  • (a) Form 8283 Reporting
  • (b) Types of Noncash Contribution
  • (c) Decline in Returns and Amounts
  • (d) Average Contribution Amounts
  • (e) Types of Charitable Organizations

§ 1.4 STATISTICAL PROFILE OF CHARITABLE SECTOR

pp. 26–27. Delete last paragraph on p. 26 and the entirety of p. 27, including footnotes, and insert:

Charitable giving in the United States in 2020 is estimated to have totaled $471.44 billion.¹²⁶ Total charitable giving grew 5.1 percent measured in current dollars over the revised total of $448.66 billion contributed in 2019. Adjusted for inflation, total charitable giving in 2020 increased 3.8 percent.

Charitable giving by individuals in 2020 amounted to an estimated $324.1 billion; this level of giving constituted 69 percent of all charitable giving for the year. Grantmaking by private foundation was an estimated $88.5 billion (19 percent of total funding). Gifts in the form of bequests in 2020 were estimated to be $41.19 billion (9 percent of total giving). Gifts from corporations in 2020 totaled $16.88 billion (4 percent of total giving for that year).

Contributions to religious organizations in 2020 totaled $131.08 billion (28 percent of giving that year). Gifts to educational organizations amounted to $71.34 billion (15 percent); to human service entities, $65.14 billion (14 percent); to foundations, $58.17 billion (12 percent); to public/society benefit organizations, $48 billion (10 percent); to health care institutions, $42.12 billion (8 percent); to international affairs entities, $25.89 billion (6 percent); to arts, culture, and humanities entities, $19.47 billion (4 percent); and to environmental/animals groups, $16.14 billion (3 percent).

In 2020, 13 percent of total charitable contributions were made online. Fifty-three percent of the U.S. population made charitable gifts in the year. It is estimated that, in 2020, 20 percent of households accounted for 80 percent of charitable giving.

Despite the global pandemic, charitable giving in 2020 increased for a variety of reasons, including the response to the pandemic, the favorable tax law provisions in the CARES Act, an increase of interest in racial and social justice, and an expanding stock market.¹²⁷

The IRS, in late May 2021, made public its most recent data, for tax year 2018, on the extent of noncash charitable contributions by itemizing individuals.¹²⁸ For that year, these individuals reported $83.5 billion in noncash charitable gifts on 9.2 million returns.

(a) Form 8283 Reporting

About 46 percent of these returns carried $70.8 billion in charitable contributions to their Schedule A using Form 8283. The number of the returns filed with Form 8283 declined by 52.4 percent and the amount claimed by these taxpayers decreased by 15.9 percent in relation to 2017. These declines are attributed, at least in part, to the increase in the standard deduction amount enacted in late 2017. Taxpayers using the standard deduction do not, of course, file Schedule A or Form 8283. The average amount of reported noncash contributions per return increased from $9,490 to $16,762 (a 76.6 percent increase).

(b) Types of Noncash Contributions

Contributions of corporate stock, mutual funds, and other investments accounted for 60.3 percent ($42.7 billion) of these gifts. Stock contributions alone aggregated $38.6 billion (54.5 percent of the total). The second largest of these categories was clothing, totaling $6.9 billion (9.7 percent). In third place are gifts of easements, valued at $6.5 billion (9.2 percent).

Corporate stock gifts averaged $254,305 per return. Clothing donations averaged $2,305 per return. Conservation easements had the largest average contribution amount of $660,666 per return, with about 9,840 returns carrying contributions to Schedule A. Gifts of other investments reflected the second-largest average donation amount of $478,230 per return, based on approximately 3,520 returns that carried $1.7 billion in contributions to Schedule A.

(c) Decline in Returns and Amounts

From 2017 to 2018, the number of tax returns filed with noncash charitable contributions declined for nearly all categories of these gifts, the exception being for those of easements. Returns with corporate stock gifts declined by 26.1 percent. Returns with clothing donations, the second-largest gift category, dropped by 54.7 percent.

Contribution amounts declined for nearly all categories, the exceptions being for easements, airplanes, boats, and other vehicles. Specifically, the amount attributed to gifts of clothing fell by 42.2 percent.

(d) Average Contribution Amounts

The average contribution amount per return for noncash contributions increased 76.6 percent, from $9,490 per return with an attached Form 8283 in 2017 to $16,762 in 2018. Average stock gifts grew from $205,503 per return in 2017 to $254,305 in 2018 (33.4 percent). The average amount claimed for clothing gifts rose 27.5 percent, from $1,808 to $2,305 per return; average household donations increased from $1,787 to $2,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright
• A Letter to the Reader
• About the Author
• Book Citations
• PART ONE: Introduction to the Tax Law of Charitable Giving
• PART TWO: Charitable Giving in General
• PART THREE: Planned Giving
• PART FIVE: Administration of Charitable Giving Programs
• PART EIGHT: Tables
• About the Online Resources
• Index
• End User License Agreement