This tax season, consider smart ways to save more for you and your loved ones this year and make a difference for your favorite charities at the same time.
Here are a few tax tips and strategies to consider:
- Giving Non-Cash Assets Instead of Cash – Give stocks, mutual funds, real estate, or other property that has increased in value and that you have owned for more than a year to charity instead of giving cash. This can allow you to achieve a double tax benefit: avoiding capital gains taxes while still receiving a charitable income tax deduction for the entire value of the contribution. Plus, you’ll keep your cash available for other needs.
- “Bunching” Charitable Gifts – If you make gifts to charity each year but your standard deduction is more than your total itemized deductions, consider combining (“bunching”) multiple years of giving into one tax year, itemizing the higher amount in the contribution year, and taking the standard deduction in other years. This maximizes your deductions and can allow you to get a tax benefit from your charitable giving that you may be missing otherwise.
- New Non-Itemizer Charitable Deduction – As of January 1, 2026, non-itemizers (people who claim the standard deduction on their returns) have a new, special opportunity. People who take the standard deduction now may additionally deduct cash gifts to qualified charities like Benedictine Foundation, up to $1,000 per year for single filers, and up to $2,000 per year for married couples filing jointly. (Note that gifts to donor-advised funds (DAFs) and gifts of non-cash property do not qualify for this special deduction.)
- Gifts from Your IRA – If you’re 70½ or over, you can make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) directly from your IRA to Benedictine Foundation without it being counted as taxable income. This gives you a tax benefit even if you use the standard deduction and do not itemize deductions on your income tax return. If you’re age 73 or over, this can satisfy your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) too, avoiding or reducing taxes you otherwise owe.
- Naming Charity as the Beneficiary of Retirement Accounts – When children or other individual beneficiaries withdraw money from inherited non-Roth retirement accounts (IRA, 401(k), 403(b), etc.), all of that money will be taxed upon distribution. This usually means large tax bills, and it’s not unusual for more than a third of retirement accounts to be lost to taxes—frequently it’s even more. If a charity like Benedictine Foundation is named as a beneficiary on the retirement accounts, though, the charity gets to keep the entire amount because it’s tax-exempt. It’s tax-smart to leave qualified retirement accounts to charity and non-taxable property (through wills, revocable trusts, life insurance policies, Roth accounts, etc.) to family members and other loved ones.
- Life-Income Gifts: Gifts that Pay You – If you are age 65 or over, you can make a gift to Benedictine Foundation that pays you income for life, gives you an immediate partial income tax deduction, can help avoid or defer capital gains taxes, and eventually goes to benefit your favorite Benedictine Living Community, program, or services. These options include Charitable Gift Annuities and Charitable Remainder Trusts.
- If you haven’t reviewed your estate plan recently, now is a good time to consult your financial advisor, attorney, or accountant to see if updates to your plan may save you taxes or otherwise benefit you or your family. (Note that Benedictine can’t and doesn’t give legal, financial, or tax advice, so please consult with your own professional advisors to determine how different options affect your own personal circumstances.)
Planned giving is a thoughtful way to support Benedictine while also taking advantage of strategies that may reduce your tax burden. If you have questions about these tax-saving ideas, or to let us know if Benedictine Foundation already is in your plans, please visit our website or contact us today.