DATE: November, 2003
The following is intended as general information and does not represent legal or tax advice. Individual circumstances vary - please consult your legal and tax advisors about your specific situation. As a monthly news source, some information may remain on this page for several weeks.
| "Giving
to others is the primary path to a life of significance." |
|
Monthly Magazine Christian Tithing Report | Misc. Economic Brief Reports | Diver Completes Loch Ness Marathon | Estate Tax Repeal Less Likely | CARE Bill Update |
NEWS
SOURCES
| ARCHIVES OF PAST MONTHS
Report Says Christian Tithing Could Bring Billions For World's Poor
If U.S. Christians were giving their churches the biblical tithe -- one-tenth of their income -- the churches would have had $143 billion more to aid the world's poor and witness to the Gospel in 2001, said church consultants John and Sylvia Ronsvalle.
The Ronsvalles direct Empty Tomb, a Champaign-based nonprofit Christian research and service organization. In their latest annual report, "The State of Church Giving Through 2001," they reported that U.S. church giving rose slightly that year, even after adjusting for inflation. They also reported that giving as a percentage of income was up to 2.66 percent, marking nearly a decade of progress from the low of 2.4 percent recorded in 1992.
Virtually
all the increased giving over that period has gone to supporting congregational
finances rather than increased benevolence or outreach, however. In 1992, the
percentage of income given to churches broke down to 1.99 percent for congregational
finances and 0.41 percent to benevolences, the report said.
From
Catholic News Service
Related Article - Surviving Tough Times
For the first time in a dozen years, contributions to the nation's largest charities declined in 2002, the result of continuing economic uncertainty among donors and heightened competition for money among charities, according to The Chronicle's 12th annual Philanthropy 400 survey.
As
a result, many groups have altered their fundraising approaches, and they are
bracing for years of financial challenges. A number of charities have begun to
focus on their long-term fundraising prospects by adding staff members and sponsoring
events to try to attract more major and planned gifts. Other groups are stepping
up their marketing efforts or working closely with corporate donors to bring in
more money.
From Chronicle of Philanthropy 10/27/03
Misc. Economic Brief Reports of the Month
The
federal budget deficit for fiscal 2003 will likely come in at under $400
billion, below the $450 billion forecast by the administration just last July,
according to OMB Director Joshua Bolten. The administration plans to announce
the exact 2003 deficit tally at the end of the month.
From
GovExec - 10/9/03
The
number of Americans filing initial jobless claims slipped last week to
its lowest level in eight months, the Labor Department reported yesterday. Separately,
a survey of manufacturing company executives said optimism rose to a six-year
high this past summer.
Boston Hearld - 10/10/03
Major
stock indexes, buoyed by declining unemployment and booming sales at the
nation's department stores, yesterday climbed to their highest levels of the year,
marking the first anniversary of a new bull market.
The Washington
Times - 10/10/03
(Ed.
Note - If you purchased securities in the last year and are considering a
charitable gift, you may have appreciated stock that will offer potential tax
advantages in charitable giving.)
Federal
Reserve policymakers left interest rates unchanged Tuesday and stressed
that even though the economy is showing signs of improving, they plan to leave
rates at historic lows for a long time.
USA Today - 10/29/03
President Bush, savoring Thursday's upbeat economic report from the Commerce Department, credited his tax cuts for producing the fastest growth rate in nearly 20 years in the third quarter.
"The tax relief we passed is working," Bush told a small crowd of workers at an aluminum extrusion plant. "We left more money in the hands of the American people, and the American people are moving this economy forward."
At
the same time, however, Bush cautioned Americans against expecting such growth
to continue. "We cannot expect economic growth numbers like this every quarter,"
he said.
Washington Post - 10/31/03
Diver Completes Loch Ness Marathon
A man clad in an old-fashioned, lead-booted diving suit has clambered out of Scotland's famed Loch Ness for the final time at the end of an epic underwater trek to raise money for a leukaemia charity.
So
had he caught sight of the loch's famously elusive resident, the Loch Ness Monster?
"I have only seen two fish up to now, which either means there are not many fish
in the loch --- or something has eaten them all," said Lloyd Scott.
From Reuters London
The principal advocate for estate tax repeal has been Senator John Kyl (R-AZ). An article in the Washington Post last week suggested that Senator Kyl now has accepted the probability of "reform but not repeal" of the estate tax (Senator Kyl indicated that this is not true).
Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) indicated that full repeal is no longer likely and reform is the better option. "They are realizing the votes aren't there for full repeal. Why not go for what we can get now and go for more later?"
GiftLaw
Editor's Note: Congress is likely to put off the question of estate tax repeal
for this year and probably for 2004. The estate exemption will increase to $1.5
million per person on January 1, 2004. Under current law, there will be exemption
increases in 2006 and 2009, followed by repeal in 2010. However, with the increasing
national debt, the cost of full repeal becomes a major budget problem after the
year 2010. Thus, the advocates of "reform not repeal" seem to be gaining momentum.
From GiftLaw
Related Article - Elimination Would Reduce Charitable Giving
A
new report from OMB Watch, a government watchdog group, argues that elimination
of the federal estate tax would have a significant negative impact on charitable
giving. Using state-level data on charitable revenues, the report, The Estate
Tax and Charitable Giving, puts the reduction in charitable giving that would
result from full elimination of the tax at an estimated $10 billion a year. Individual
states, on average, would lose $187 million in annual charitable giving, with
larger states losing proportionately more.
From OMB Watch
Although
Hill leaders still plan to adjourn the autumn legislative session on November
7, they admit it might be difficult to broker agreements on key priorities, including
the CARE Act, within the next two weeks.
From PGDC Broadcast:
News Alerts
The
Senate has passed the CARE Act of 2003 and the house has passed a similar Charitable
Giving Act (H.R.7). The bills now await a House-Senate Conference Committee. With
95% approval in both the House and Senate, it would seem that this process should
be accomplished quickly and easily. However, the House and Senate are currently
in a titanic struggle over the energy bill. Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chair of
the House Ways and Means Committee and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) are still
working through major differences on the energy bill.
From
GiftLaw
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Revised: November 30, 2003 20:52.