Gifts That Reduce Your Taxes

Retirement assets are among the most heavily taxed, making them an ideal resource for charitable giving once you no longer need the assets yourself. As a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, the American Battlefield Trust is exempt from paying the taxes that might otherwise be owed. Consider making the American Battlefield Trust a beneficiary of your retirement assets and leaving other less-heavily taxed assets to loved ones.

Life insurance is an affordable way to leave a gift to the American Battlefield Trust while also enjoying tax savings during your lifetime. Benefits include:

• A significant gift from disposable income at a fraction of the value.
• Tax savings can be immediately realized.
• Your donation could reduce final taxes of your estate.
• Insurance gifts transfer outside the estate.

One of the easiest ways you can help preserve our national battlefields is by making the American Battlefield Trust the beneficiary of a certificate of deposit, a checking or savings bank account, or brokerage account. Simply request a Pay on Death (POD) or Transfer on Death (TOD) designation form from your financial institution.

You can benefit from tax savings that result from supporting battlefield preservation through a charitable lead trust.

There are two ways charitable lead trusts make payments:

• Charitable lead annuity trust pays a fixed amount each year to the American Battlefield Trust and is more attractive when interest rates are low.
• Charitable lead unitrust pays a variable amount each year based on the value of the assets in the trust. With a unitrust, if the trust’s assets go up in value, for example, the payments to the American Battlefield Trust go up as well.

The American Battlefield Trust accepts designation as the income beneficiary of a CLT. In general, the American Battlefield Trust will not serve as a trustee of a CLT. Exceptions will be decided by the Gift Acceptance Committee or the Board of Directors as appropriate.