If the largest asset in your Retirement Plan – your 401(k), IRA Keogh, or other accounts – you may be surprised to learn that the IRS will impose income tax on any balance that you direct to a non-spouse beneficiary. This tax is in addition to the estate tax that will be imposed in the account. However, if your 401(k), IRA Keogh, or other accounts were transferred to the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast, a tax-exempt 501(C) 3 organization, we would receive the assets without payment of income tax. Your Retirement Plan is a passive asset and thus would generate no unrelated business taxable income. For estates fully subject to the estate tax, the result can be 75% of the value of your retirement plan and it will be consumed in taxes before your child, relative, or friend ever receives it.

There is a sensible charitable alternative:

Name the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast as the beneficiary of your retirement plan, and then use other assets not subject to income tax to make gifts to your heirs and beneficiaries. The Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast will not pay income tax on its distribution and your heirs and beneficiaries will receive their share of your estate without the burden of added taxes. Here are some of the benefits of making a gift from your retirement plan:

• The deferred income tax, which would be due upon distribution to an individual beneficiary, is exempted when distributions are made to the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast as a charitable beneficiary.



• The pension or retirement plan account, which would normally be subject to estate taxes, is instead deducted from the gross estate.



• Your gift will help ensure that future generations of girls will grow strong and reach their full potential in Girl Scouting.

Donors who wish to make a gift from their Retirement Plan Assets may do so by contacting their plan administrator and designating the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast as their beneficiary. If you would like to make a charitable gift through a retirement plan, your plan administrator will ask you to complete a Change of Beneficiary form. You may need the following information:

For more information on planned giving, please contact the Fund Development department by email or call (757) 547-4405 ext. 247.