Beth Kaufman Quoted by The Fiscal Times on Little Known Tax Breaks

The Fiscal Times quotes Beth Shapiro Kaufman concerning one of the lesser-known tax breaks: Donating to charity from your IRA. 

Excerpt taken from the article.

1. Donate to charity from your IRA. The fiscal cliff deal passed in early January resuscitated an expired provision that allows people age 70.5 or older to donate up to $100,000 from their IRA to a qualified charity, without having to pay taxes on the transfer. For people who already itemize their deductions, the provision makes no difference—if they withdraw money from their IRA and then donate it, they're taxed on the withdrawal and then deduct the donation. But those who don't itemize also don't get charitable deductions, so taking advantage of this provision means they'll save on their taxes, says Beth Shapiro Kaufman, an estate planner at tax and legal services firm Caplin & Drysdale. Another group helped, she says, are high-income earners whose total deductions are capped by the Pease limitation enacted under the fiscal cliff legislation—when they donate straight from their IRA, the donation doesn't count against their total, effectively skirting the Pease cap.  To read more, please go to The Fiscal Times' website.