Using appreciated investment assets (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) can be a tax-wise way to make a gift. If you have an appreciated security that you have owned for more than one year, you can deduct its current market value, regardless of your original cost. Further, no capital gains tax is due on the appreciated amount. So your gift of appreciated securities can cost you less than a comparable gift of cash.
The IRS allows you to claim charitable contributions for gifts of appreciated assets up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income in any year. If you cannot use all of the deduction in one year, you may carry over the remainder for the next five years. Call us before you sell profitable investment assets.