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Abstract: 

The July-August issue includes a number of timely articles. The tax reform process is well under way on Capitol Hill, despite the absence of any specific legislation. This issue features excerpts from a Congressional Budget Office report detailing various combinations of certain technical options which Congress may (or may not) choose to follow when it finally turns to the task of drafting specific tax reform legislation. Two specific articles offer insights into how The Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) is working out. The first discusses how UPMIFA and a newly published fiduciary standard (“Stewardship Excellence Guidelines for Endowments and Foundations”) will bring change to the affected institutions. The second addresses the effect UPFIMA has had on underwater endowments and governance practices. Several recent cases and rulings are described—including a decision from a federal district court in Florida allowing a charitable remainder trust to proceed with a lawsuit against its accountants for getting them into the Madoff scam, and also a Tax Court decision of special interest to pet lovers, granting some, but not all, deductions sought by a cat rescue volunteer. Finally, we offer a little trip down memory lane, reflecting on how little the charitable deduction language included on Form 1040 has changed since the charitable deduction was introduced in 1917. (Many others may be surprised simply to learn that Form 1040 itself is nearly a century old!)

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Affiliations:  1: Attorney at Law.