A change to the tax law that went into effect at the end of 2015 has created great opportunities.
What this law formally did was make permanent a provision that allows citizens 70 years old and older to make donations directly to a charity, allow them to exclude these payments from their taxes and also to have donations count when going over minimum distribution of an individual's annual income. Previously this has been renewed by Congress on an annual basis.
This law states that all of this is guaranteed as long as the charity donations do not exceed $100,000. One may either donate strictly to one specific charity or give to multiple charities as long as they do not go over the maximum amount. The donation also must be made directly to the charity.
People who make sizable charity donations will benefit from this the most since a donor's taxable income will now become much smaller as well as their estate taxes. One can begin to take advantage of this law this year. Be sure to consult an elder law attorney if you are thinking about making IRA charitable rollovers this year.