Tithing Share Transfer Example

Teaching Tool 8 - Tithing Share Transfer Example

Personal Finance: Another Perspective

November 6, 2007

Following is an example of the type of document I use to donate shares of appreciated mutual funds to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The process is similar regardless of the charity chosen.

The most important point is to have appreciated mutual funds or stocks to donate. If you have losses, it is better to sell the shares and take the losses, as you can write off up to $3,000 each year of securities losses on your income taxes. There is no benefit, other than time, of donating shares or mutual funds which have lost value.

One of the nice benefits of donating appreciated mutual funds is that you can transfer partial shares, i.e. .967 shares, to your charity. If you donate stock, you must tell the broker how many shares you wish to donate, and then the next day keep a copy of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and copy the price per share for your tax records. If you donate mutual funds, you can explicitly indicate the dollar and cent amount, i.e. $1,285.48, that you wish to donate, and you do not need to copy the pages from the WSJ. In addition, if you are donating to the LDS church, you can specify a dollar amount for tithing and a dollar amount for fast offering or missionary as well.

The process I use is this. First, I call the broker or mutual fund company and get the account number of the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is critical as you must transfer the shares to the correct account.

Second, I give the broker or mutual fund company verbal instructions as to the number of shares or amount to be transferred and as of which date; the account from which the shares are coming from; and the account to which the shares are to be transferred (i.e. the church account number).

Third, I prepare a confirmation fax, similar to the account below, which confirms the same information as discussed above. In addition, this fax also includes what the donation is to be used for, i.e., tithing, fast offering, ward missionary fund, etc., and your ward and stake. Then if it is a joint account, I have both individuals on the account, in my case my wife and myself, sign the document and fax it to the broker or mutual fund company. In addition, I also fax it to the Finance Department of the Church, so they will know to look forward to the transfer of shares.

After the shares are transferred, you will receive, within roughly a month, a “Donations in Kind Receipt” from the Church or charity. Keep this form, along with a copy of your fax for your income tax receipts. You will also receive a copy of the transfer document from your broker or mutual fund company. Check these together to make sure they match.

At tithing settlement, please note that your donation will not be included on your annual contributions sheet from your ward. It will, however, be recorded in heaven and in the records at SaltLake.

Below is an example of a sheet that I used recently.

July 21, 201X

Brokerage/Mutual Fund Companycc: The Church of Jesus Christ

Addressof Latter-day Saints

City, State ZipPhone: 801-240-2554

Fax: ZZZ-ZZZ-ZZZZFax: 801-240-2202

Email: mail:

Attention: Kris Maxfield/Jason Covington (this was the person I talked to with the verbal instructions)

This is to confirm the transfer in-kind from our account, called in today at 11:34 a.m. MST (state the time you called the transfer in to the broker/mutual fund company), from:

Account Names

Account Number (XX-XXXXX)

Of a donation to the following account:

The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Account number: 2517-6162(you can call the church for this number)

Of the number of shares at tonight’s NAV that would equate to $x,xxx:

from (Fund Name, i.e. S&P 500 Index Fund Select Shares (SWPPX))

This is a donation of $x,xxxfrom (your name) to be used $x,xxxfor tithing, $x,xxx for fast offerings, and $x,xxx for your ward Missionary fund. Please call when this transaction is completed.

______

Your Name

Your Address

Your Ward

Your Stake

Disclaimer

The purpose of this material and this class is to help you get your financial house inorder and to help you on your road to financial self-reliance. If there are mistakes in this material, please bring them to our attention, and we will correct them in upcoming versions. The teacher, and BYU, specifically disclaim any liability or responsibility for claims, loss, or risk incurred, directly or indirectly, by using this material.

- Page 1 of 3 -