Do you have an account with a bank or financial advisor or a brokerage house into which you have invested over the years?
If you do, you probably know that anytime you sell any assets to take cash out, you must pay capital gains tax to the IRS. That rate varies widely by individual circumstances, but it usually falls between 15% and 37%. That’s a lot of money to give to Uncle Sam! There is a way to legitimately avoid paying any tax on the gain and at the same time both help support the Grow Where You Are Planted Campaign and get a deduction on your tax return. The IRS will allow an investor to transfer the actual shares of stock directly to a charity. If done properly, you will owe no tax whatsoever, the full value of the shares will go to Grow Where You Are Planted Campaign, and you will also get a deduction on your taxes for the full amount of your donation. Without this procedure, if you wanted to sell $1,000 worth of stock and give the money to St. Isidore, you would sell the stock and pay tax on the gain, which could be between 15% and 37%! Then you could give what was left to St. Isidore. You could deduct on your return the amount you donated, but not the full $1,000, and of course St. Isidore would not receive the full $1,000 either.
Using the stock transfer procedure, you would transfer stock worth $1,000 to Grow Where You Are Planted, and the full $1,000 would go the building fund. You would pay no tax at all on that transaction, and yet you would still be able to deduct the full $1,000 on your tax return.
It is not often the government makes a “good deal” available, but this is one of those times.
Every bank or brokerage account manager will have slightly different procedure, but all will require you to identify your account, the name of the company whose shares you would like to donate, and the specific number of shares you would like to transfer to the church building fund. The Society of St. Pius X maintains an account specifically to receive these donations, and you will provide those details to your bank or the brokerage company that manages your account. Although each will have a different form, the information required is usually the same:
Broker Name: Charles Schwab
Broker Account #: 7382-0151
DTC #: 0164
Receiving account Registration Name: Society of Saint Pius X
Contact name: Christopher Joliet, Chief Development Officer
Contact email: c.joliat@sspx.org
Contact Phone: 203-560-4802
Notice to be sent from the donor to Chris Joliet c.joliat@sspx.org and Mary Kagay m.kagay@sspx.org:
• Donor’s name and address
• Donor’s contact phone and email
• A statement of your intention to donate to the St. Isidore Grow Where You Are Planted campaign via stock transfer.
• The stock, stock symbol, and number of shares of each security you will transfer, and the approximate value of the total shares (knowing that it could change, day to day).
Please copy your email to Fr. Robinson so he will know what is coming and can liaise with Chris to get the funds transferred after the District sells the stock.
Once the transfer happens, the Society will send you an acknowledgement letter which you will save to document the donation when preparing your tax return, so that you receive the full benefit of the donation deduction.
IMPORTANT: Because the Society receives many donations, please notify Father Robinson when you authorize a transfer, so that he can ensure the funds are passed through from the Society to St Isidore Grow Where You Are Planted Campaign. All he will need is the name of the company and the number of shares you have transferred. While the SSPX is in the business of saving souls, it is not in the business of tax advice, so please consult with an accountant or tax advisor if you have any questions.
